The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.11 per cent, from late Wednesday. It’s been generally falling since topping 5 per cent last autumn, which can encourage borrowing across the economy and investors to pay higher prices for stocks.

Across the Atlantic, traders were also trying to guess when the European Central Bank will begin cutting interest rates after its president said it’s making progress on getting inflation under control.

One report said slightly more US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, though the number remains low relative to history.

A separate report said US workers were able to produce more stuff per hour during the last three months of 2023 than expected. Such improvement is key because it can allow the economy to grow without adding as much upward pressure on inflation.

A potentially more impactful report will arrive on Friday, when the US government will give its latest monthly update on the job market. The hope among traders is that the job market remains healthy but not so much that it deters the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates.

On Wall Street, Kroger jumped 8.6 per cent for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after it reported stronger-than-expected profit for the end of 2023. It also gave a forecast range for profit in the upcoming year whose midpoint was above analysts’ estimates.

Nvidia was again the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 upward and up 3.4 per cent. It’s been on a nearly unstoppable run and has soared 85 per cent this year after more than tripling last year amid Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

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American Eagle Outfitters rose 2.2 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The retailer also unveiled a plan to kickstarts growth in operating profit.

Victoria’s Secret was on the losing end even after it also reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. It said it expects overall sales to fall this upcoming year, when analysts were looking for modest growth. It tumbled 30.2 per cent.

Shares of embattled New York Community Bancorp were 6.9 per cent higher a day after going on a wild ride. The bank, which is battling weakness in commercial real estate and growing pains resulting from its buyout of a distressed bank, announced a lifeline of more than $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) from a group of investors on Wednesday.

The bank is also cutting its dividend again, down to a penny from 5 cents. A prior cut to its dividend earlier this year, along with a surprise loss reported for its latest quarter, drove much of the fear around NYCB. The bank also said it has $US77.2 billion in total deposits, down from $US83 billion roughly a month ago.

Analysts are still saying NYCB’s problems are specific to it, rather than a warning of impending doom for the broader industry, but stocks of other regional banks have been skittish. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking index rose 0.1 per cent.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were higher in Europe after the European Central Bank left its main interest rate alone. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index briefly reached a record before falling to a loss of 1.2 per cent.

AP