U.S. stocks rose in choppy trading on Thursday as investors mulled over several economic reports that showed a muddy picture of the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 84 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 added about 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%.
Financial stocks outperformed, with Goldman Sachs rising 1.8% and JPMorgan climbing 1.6%.
However, Shares of Adobe fell more than 11% after the company announced a $20 billion deal to buy Figma, weighing on the Nasdaq. Chevron dropped 1.3%, hurting the Dow.
On Thursday, initial jobless claims came in better than expected, but import prices saw a smaller drop than estimates suggested. Retail sales beat expectations, but were negative when excluding autos. Manufacturing data also showed a slowing economy. While those reports suggest that the U.S. consumer sector is holding its ground for now, they will do little to alleviate concerns about persistent inflation.
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