MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks rose, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq approaching fresh records. The dollar came under pressure and Treasury yields declined after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump was considering naming his pick to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell early. Crude oil futures rose for a second session. Gold settled higher.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed just below their all-time highs, driven by gains in shares of technology and financial companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, the S&P 500 gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1%.

The stock market was hit hard this spring after President Trump announced harsh tariffs, but it has boomeranged back near new highs as investors have grown more sanguine about the risk of a debilitating trade war.

Earlier Thursday, stocks in China slipped.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.2% lower. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.3%, and the ChiNext Price Index declined 0.7%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.3% lower.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.6%.

Stocks in Australia slipped, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index dropped 0.1%

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.2%.

COMMODITIES

Crude oil futures rose for a second session but settled off intraday highs as returning concerns about eventual oversupply in the market added a dose of caution to the rebound.

Speculators are likely to "sit on a small net long position" until the next bearish headline, which could come when OPEC+ meets in July to determine output for August, Mizuho's Robert Yawger said.

OPEC+ "will likely add 400,000 barrels a day of oil to global supply starting in August, with an outside chance the producer group dumps the whole 800,000 barrels needed to complete their stated goal of returning the 2.2 million barrels a day they took off the market in November of 2023."

West Texas Intermediate settled up 0.5% at $65.24 a barrel. Most-active Brent rose 0.4% to $66.69.

Front-month Comex gold for June delivery gained 0.2% to $3333.50 - up for three of the past four sessions.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Jobless claims fall to five-week low - no sign of surging layoffs

The article has been corrected for total jobless claims.

The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell to a five-week low, underscoring the reluctance of businesses to lay off workers even amid the tumult of ongoing trade wars.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 236,000 in the seven days ended June 21, based on seasonally adjusted data, the government said Thursday.

Trump Considers Naming Next Fed Chair Early in Bid to Undermine Powell

President Trump's exasperation over the Federal Reserve's take-it-slow approach to cutting interest rates is prompting him to consider accelerating when he will announce his pick to succeed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term runs for another 11 months.

In recent weeks, the president has toyed with the idea of selecting and announcing Powell's replacement by September or October, according to people familiar with the matter. One of these people said the president's ire toward Powell could prompt an even-earlier announcement sometime this summer.

Trump is considering former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, according to people familiar with the matter. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is being pitched to Trump by allies of both men as a potential candidate, some of these people said. Other contenders include former World Bank President David Malpass and Fed governor Christopher Waller.

Nike's Earnings Were Ugly. But They're Better Than Feared.

Nike's fiscal fourth quarter was a rough one, but results were slightly better than feared.

Nike's sales in the quarter ended May 31 fell 12% year over year to $11.1 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $10.7 billion.

Earnings of 14 cents a share were ahead of analyst projections for 13 cents a share. In the year-ago quarter, earnings were $1.01 per share.

Longtime Musk Aide and Fixer Omead Afshar Leaves Tesla

Tesla parted ways with a top aide to Chief Executive Elon Musk who was in charge of sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe, according to people familiar with the matter.

Omead Afshar, who was promoted less than a year ago, has left the company, the people said. The company's director of human resources for North America, Jenna Ferrua, also left the company, some of the people said.

Afshar, Ferrua and Tesla didn't return requests for comment. Bloomberg earlier reported the news of Afshar's departure.

CoreWeave in Talks to Buy Core Scientific

CoreWeave is in talks to acquire Core Scientific, according to people familiar with the matter, after the AI company's unsuccessful attempt to buy the digital-infrastructure firm about a year ago.

A transaction could be finalized in the coming weeks, as long as the talks don't hit any snags, the people said.