Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise in Choppy Day for Markets
Moderna was the worst S&P 500 stock today after the vaccine maker slashed its R&D budget.


Joey Solitro
Stocks opened and closed in positive territory, though the path to the finish line was choppy. A mixed reading on wholesale inflation pressured the main benchmarks throughout the morning, but a rally in several mega-cap stocks lifted them higher in afternoon trading.
Ahead of the open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures what businesses are paying suppliers for goods, increased 0.2% month-over-month in August. Year-over-year, headline PPI was up 1.7% – the slowest pace since February.
Core PPI, which excludes food, energy and trade services, was up 0.3% on a monthly basis and 3.3% year-over-year. While the July-to-August increase matched what was seen the month prior, the annual rise was slightly higher.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"Wholesale price growth slowed last month, and today's data is unlikely to impact the Fed's near-sure decision next week," says NerdWallet Senior Economist Elizabeth Renter. "A modest rate cut is all but certain, and consumers and businesses alike will welcome it with open arms."
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, futures traders are pricing in a 67% probability the Fed will cut rates by a quarter-percentage point next Wednesday. Odds of a half-percentage point cut are currently at 33%.
Microsoft moves on another round of job cuts
In single-stock news, Microsoft (MSFT) rose 0.9% after a leaked internal memo indicated that the technology giant is eliminating another 650 positions in its Xbox gaming unit. This marks the third round of layoffs in the division since Microsoft bought video game maker Activision Blizzard in 2023.
Fellow Magnificent 7 stocks Alphabet (GOOGL, +2.3%) and Meta Platforms (META, +2.7%) also drew attention Thursday after a report from Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index showed U.S. dividend payouts were up 8.6% in the second quarter. The two mega-cap communication services stocks "made a significant contribution to this growth, boosting the U.S. underlying total by 3.6 percentage points," the report indicated.
Moderna plunges after cutting R&D spending
Elsewhere, Moderna (MRNA) plunged 12.4% – making it the worst S&P 500 stock today – after the COVID-19 vaccine maker slashed its research and development budget to focus on new product approvals. The company also provided its 2025 revenue outlook, which came in below analysts' expectations.
The healthcare stock is now down nearly 30% for the year to date, but there are plenty of bulls to be found. Indeed, Argus Research analyst Jasper Hellweg (Buy) has a Buy rating on MRNA and says this technical weakness creates a buying opportunity.
Micron sinks after double downgrade
Micron Technology (MU) was another notable decliner, sinking 3.8% after Exane BNP Paribas analyst Karl Ackerman issued a rare double downgrade on the semiconductor stock, to Underperform from Outperform (the equivalents of Sell and Buy, respectively).
Ackerman expects MU to underperform its artificial intelligence (AI) peers over the next year or so amid "an oversupply of high bandwidth memory" chips, which he believes will lead "to a faster-than-expected correction in DRAM selling prices."
Shares of the memory chipmaker had a red-hot start to 2024 and had more than doubled in value on a year-to-date basis as of mid-June. Since then, though, MU stock has plunged 43% on uncertainty around artificial intelligence (AI) spending.
Ackerman also cut his price target on Micron, to $67 from $73. For reference, MU closed today at $87.21.
As for the major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 41,096, the S&P 500 added 0.8% to 5,595, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.0% to 17,569.
Related content
- Stocks With the Highest Dividend Yields in the S&P 500
- Analysts' Top S&P 500 Stocks to Buy Now
- Will the Fed Cut Rates in September? Here's What Experts Predict
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
- Joey SolitroContributor
-
AI vs the Stock Market: How Did Alphabet, Nike and Industrial Stocks Perform in June?
AI is a new tool to help investors analyze data, but can it beat the stock market? Here's how a chatbot's stock picks fared in June.
-
Stock Market Today: A Historic Quarter Closes on High Notes
"All's well that ends well" is one way to describe the second quarter of 2025, at least from a pure price-action perspective.
-
AI vs the Stock Market: How Did Alphabet, Nike and Industrial Stocks Perform in June?
AI is a new tool to help investors analyze data, but can it beat the stock market? Here's how a chatbot's stock picks fared in June.
-
Stock Market Today: A Historic Quarter Closes on High Notes
"All's well that ends well" is one way to describe the second quarter of 2025, at least from a pure price-action perspective.
-
Keep Tax Collectors at Bay with Muni Bond Funds
Municipal bonds can be good insurance against inflation — and interest is tax-free. But as with all investments, understanding risk is key.
-
Eight Tips From a Financial Caddie: How to Keep Your Retirement on the Fairway
Think of your financial adviser as a golf caddie — giving you the advice you need to nail the retirement course, avoiding financial bunkers and bogeys.
-
Just Sold Your Business? Avoid These Five Hasty Moves
If you've exited your business, financial advice is likely to be flooding in from all quarters. But wait until the dust settles before making any big moves.
-
Cord Cutting Could Help You Save Over $10,000 in 10 Years
How cutting the cord can save you money and how those savings can grow over time.
-
Should I Buy Stocks or Bonds Right Now?
Generally speaking, stocks provide reasonable growth while bonds provide stable income. Each play important roles in diversified portfolios.
-
You Were Planning to Retire This Year: Should You Go Ahead?
If the economic climate is making you doubt whether you should retire this year, these three questions will help you make up your mind.