The Stock Market Is Crawling Higher as Rite Aid, KB Home Give Mixed Messages
Thursday morning gave investors some renewed confidence in the staying power of the stock market. Initially, major benchmarks dropped as market participants feared the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., as well as other hard-hit areas like Brazil, Russia, and India. Yet indexes quickly rebounded, setting aside worries about 1.48 million new claims for unemployment benefits and instead hoping for a quicker recovery regardless of the status of the coronavirus pandemic. Just before 10:30 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was up 129 points to 25,575. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose 9 points to 3,059, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) picked up 30 points to 9,939.
We're mostly in the lull between earnings seasons, but some companies are still sharing their most recent results. Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) has faced challenges from pandemic-related closures, but its results still made shareholders happier. The same wasn't true for homebuilder KB Home (NYSE: KBH), whose results raised some questions about the health of the housing market.
Shares of Rite Aid jumped 22% Thursday morning following the release of its fiscal first-quarter financial report. Some of the numbers were ugly, but they still pointed to solid future prospects for the drugstore chain.
Source Fool.com
