Traders
react
after
the
closing
bell
on
the
floor
at
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
on
March
20,
2024.
Brendan
Mcdermid
|
Reuters
Stock
futures
are
trading
near
the
flatline
overnight
as
the
S&P
500
approached
its
best
first-quarter
performance
in
five
years.
Futures
tied
to
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
slipped
32
points,
or
0.08%.
S&P
500
futures
inched
lower
by
0.08%,
while
Nasdaq
100
futures
declined
0.1%.
In
extended
trading,
shares
of
luxury
home
furnishings
retailer
RH
jumped
8%
after
management
indicated
that
demand
trends
are
expected
to
accelerate
throughout
fiscal
2024.
Nevertheless,
the
company
missed
estimates
in
its
latest
quarter
and
issued
a
weak
outlook
for
the
first
quarter.
Stocks
rallied
across
the
board
on
Wednesday,
with
the
S&P
500
gaining
0.86%
to
close
at
a
record
high.
The
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
advanced
477.75
points,
or
1.22%,
for
its
best
day
in
2024.
The
tech-heavy
Nasdaq
Composite,
meanwhile,
added
0.51%.
“You’ve
got
a
combination
of
things
that
are
happening
with
a
calendar
and
a
slow
news
week,
with
the
largest
piece
of
data
coming
out
on
Friday
when
the
market’s
closed,
so
you’ve
got
investors
that
feel
invigorated
and
a
more
risk-on
attitude
seems
to
be
driving
markets,”
said
Art
Hogan,
chief
market
strategist
at
B.
Riley
Wealth.
The
major
averages
are
tracking
for
their
second
consecutive
winning
quarter
and
fifth
straight
winning
month.
For
the
quarter,
the
S&P
500
is
up
about
10%.
It
is
on
pace
for
its
best
first-quarter
gain
since
2019,
when
it
rallied
13.1%.
The
30-stock
Dow,
up
5.5%
during
the
period,
is
tracking
for
its
strongest
first-quarter
performance
since
2021
when
it
advanced
7.4%.
The
Nasdaq
is
up
9.3%
in
the
quarter
thus
far.
On
a
monthly
basis,
the
S&P
500
is
up
3%.
The
Nasdaq
and
the
Dow
are
both
pacing
for
advances
of
more
than
1.9%.
Investors
are
awaiting
data
on
jobless
claims,
gross
domestic
product
and
consumer
sentiment
out
Thursday.
Although
the
market
will
be
closed
due
to
Good
Friday,
economic
data
tied
to
personal
income,
consumer
spending
and
personal
consumption
expenditures
will
be
released
that
day.
