Wall Street Today | US Applications for Jobless Benefits Fall to Two-Month Low

Initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 228,000 in the week ended July 15, according to Labor Department data published Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 240,000 new claims.

The Federal Reserve’s widely expected increase in interest rates next week may prove to be the last in its current credit-tightening campaign, former Chair Ben Bernanke said.

Investors seem to agree. They’re pricing in the near certainty of a rate hike at the Fed’s July 25-26 meeting with limited chances of an additional increase thereafter, according to trading in the federal funds futures market.

Frustrated home shoppers face high mortgage rates and a shortage of available properties, a combination that made purchases less affordable and dented sales in June.

Existing home sales, which make up most of the housing market, decreased 3.3% in June from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.16 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That was the slowest sales pace since January. June sales fell 18.9% from a year earlier. 

Oil edged higher in a session marked by choppy trading and dwindling liquidity as a mixed fundamental picture dueled with negative sentiment from broader markets.

The number of oil futures contracts trading hands dropped to the lowest since late January, in part due to the expiration of West Texas Intermediate’s August contract. On the fundamental front, the outlook remains varied as global supply has tightened while China attempts to revitalize its sagging economic growth.

The Elon Musk-led company on Wednesday reported gross margin of 18.2% in the quarter, below the 18.8% Wall Street had expected. Still, Tesla beat earnings and revenue expectations. Its profit, excluding some items, came to 91 cents a share, more than the 81 cents analysts estimated.

TSMC’s revenue and profit troubles disclosed Thursday reflected industry challenges including soft consumer demand, rising costs and a shortage of various types of skilled workers. The company said people with expertise erecting semiconductor facilities were in short supply in the U.S.

The carrier beat earnings expectations, posted record revenue, and followed Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in hiking full-year guidance.

But that hat-trick failed to lift American’s shares, which pointed 2.9% lower ahead of the open.