Dow closes more than 300 points higher, securing 7th winning day: Live updates

The nation’s largest banks submitted plans for the potential impact they faced from climate-related events, finding the process challenging but stating that they will continue their work.

In a long-awaited report released Thursday, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all submitted potential impacts from disruptive events. The Federal Reserve released a broad overview of the plans, which are distinct from the stress tests the institutions perform regularly, but did not grade the submissions.

Banks reported issues with “data gaps” and modeling problems for the two scenarios, one involving a major hurricane in the Northeast U.S. and the other an event of the banks’ choice.

“Participants intend to incorporate climate scenario analysis into their risk-management processes over time,” the report stated, adding that the institutions plan on investing more in the future to better assess potential climate-related issues.

—Jeff Cox

Here is how the major indexes closed on Thursday:

— Pia Singh

Stocks have come under pressure this quarter after a string of hotter inflation reports spurred investor concerns the Federal Reserve will stay higher for longer, with rate cut expectations coming down to just two for the year starting in September.

However, UBS anticipates upcoming inflation data will start to trend lower, starting with the April’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) that’s set for release next week. The firm cited recent data indicating moderating housing costs, and lower consumer spending going forward.

“We expect a renewed fall in U.S. inflation in the coming months,” UBS’ Solita Marcelli wrote on Thursday. “Investors are expecting April’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) to show that the trend toward slowing inflation—which was interrupted in the first quarter of the year—is resuming.”

“Our view is that inflation will start heading back to the Fed’s 2% target in the coming months,” Marcelli said.

— Sarah Min

While China’s electric vehicle volumes remain robust, the U.S. remains in an “EV winter,” according to Barclays.

Analyst Dan Levy pointed out in a Thursday note that California’s EV penetration declined for the second consecutive quarter, and that early U.S. data indicates 9.3% EV penetration in April, which is lower month-over-month but slightly above 2023 at 9.1%. California is the leader of U.S. EV uptake, he added, making it a significant indicator of trends in the rest of the country.

China, meanwhile, continues to dominate global EV share, the analyst said, as it accounts for 58% of EV unit sales volume in 2024 while the U.S. accounts for just 10%.

Based on the challenging EV environment, Levy estimated lower volume for to read the original story.

— Yun Li

European equity markets were mixed early Thursday, as the recent flurry of earnings slowed and markets braced themselves for new messaging on the path of interest rates from the Bank of England.

The regional Stoxx 600 was down 0.06%, though major bourses were in the green, with Germany’s DAX up 0.3%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 were slightly above the flatline.

— Jenni Reid

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose nearly 1%, extending gains after opening 0.2% higher, as the country’s customs agency released upbeat trade data.

While April imports topped estimates, exports rose in line with expectations.

China’s imports climbed 8.4% in April, compared with Reuters poll estimate of a 4.8% year-on-year rise. Exports rose 1.5% year on year in April in U.S. dollar terms, meeting expectations.

Exports and imports had both declined year on year in March.

— Shreyashi Sanyal, Evelyn Cheng

Bank of Japan could raise interest rates faster than what the market expects, according to the summary of opinions from the central bank’s monetary policy meeting in April.

The bank said that there was “high uncertainty” about economic activity and prices that were forecast in April.

The bank in April raised its inflation for fiscal 2024, forecasting inflation between 2.5% and 3%, up from 2.2% to 2.5% forecast in January.

The BOJ said “if this outlook will be realized, then in about two years, the price stability target of 2% will be achieved in a sustainable and stable manner,” resulting in a future policy rate higher than what is being factored in by the market.

— Lim Hui Jie

Real wages in Japan fell 2.5% year on year in March, marking its 24th straight month of decline.

The 2.5% drop in March was faster than the 1.8% recorded in February, as rising costs outpaced nominal wages.

Nominal wages rose 0.6% compared to the same period last year, coming in at 301,193 yen ($1,938.66) and slowing from the 1.4% rise seen in February.

— Lim Hui Jie

Mitsubishi Motors Corp shares fell 5% in early trading after the Japanese automaker forecast lower earnings for the current fiscal year.

Mitsubishi on Wednesday said it expected a net profit of 144 billion yen ($926,784.06) in the fiscal year ending March 2025, which is about 7% lower than its 154.71 billion yen net profit last year.

Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday forecast lower operating profit for its current financial year as well.

The broader Topix index was 0.4% higher on the day.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to offer their streaming services in a bundle, the entertainment giants announced on Wednesday evening.

The bundle will bring together the companies’ streaming services — Disney+, Hulu and Max — in one package this summer. The offering will be available on the ad-supported and commercial-free tiers.

Shares of WBD inched higher in after-hours trading, while Disney was little changed.

CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo and Alex Sherman share the details on the new bundle here.

–Darla Mercado

Airbnb reported strong quarterly results and was very optimistic for the summer travel season. A big reason why – people are eagerly traveling for special events.

A large number —500,000 — guests booked Airbnb stays during the North American total eclipse last month. During the upcoming Summer Olympics, bookings in Paris are five times higher than the year-ago period. Meanwhile, cities in Germany are also seeing double the Airbnb bookings during the Euro Cup soccer tournament this summer.

This is more evidence that consumers are still spending strongly on travel and entertainment experiences despite ongoing concerns about the economy.

— Robert Hum

Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average earned its sixth straight positive session.

Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow ticked down 6 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.06% while Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.1% lower.

— Brian Evans