Stock markets open mixed, regional banks trend higher this morning

Yahoo Finance markets contributor Remy Blaire discusses the stock markets opening on a mixed note, Palantir Technologies' stock movement, and regional banks trending higher.

Video transcript

BRAD SMITH: We're almost 15 minutes into today's trading session, and checking in on the latest moves during today's activity, we have Yahoo Finance contributor Remy Blaire on the floor of the NYSE with the details. Remy.

REMY BLAIRE: Well, Wall Street has opened on a mixed note on this Thursday morning, but this does come on the heels of the strong rally we saw in equities in the previous session. On Wednesday, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 all settled higher, up by over 1%. Today, the latest earnings as well as economic data are being digested. Now, we did see weekly initial jobless claims decline by 22,000 which reversed the decline we saw in the week prior.

Meanwhile, the Philly Fed Index showed a [? ninth ?] straight month of declines in factory activity for the month of May. Now, moving on to market-moving stocks this morning, let's take a look at Palantir Technologies. We are seeing shares of that company extend gains from the previous session. Yesterday we saw shares settle higher by about 8% on the session, closing above $10. And that is a level not seen since February of 2023.

But we do have to keep in mind that its earnings beat was pretty good in terms of its top line as well as bottom line, and Palantir also raised its guidance for this year. Also, to keep in mind, Palantir CEO Alex Carp did say in an open letter that he is moving full throttle in terms of its recently announced AI platform. We'll keep an eye on that stock. But notably, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest upped its stake in Palantir, adding over one million shares with a valuation of about 13 million US dollars, and this does come on the heels of Cathie Wood's prior investment after the earnings report.

Now, moving on to regional banks, we saw that sector gain in the previous session. And in today's session, we are seeing Western Alliance as well as Pac West try to extend those gains. We saw that pop in the sector come on the heels of Western Alliance showing that bank deposit stability is here. It reported in a regulatory filing that deposit growth ballooned by nearly $2 billion since the beginning of Q2 of this year. As a result of that pop in Western Alliance, we did see other regionals including the companies of New York Community Bancorp, KeyCorp, Comerica, as well as Truist Financial. And Zion Bancorporation gained in the previous session, and this morning, it does look like those companies are trying to extend session gains.

JULIE HYMAN: Thanks, Remy. Interesting to see those regionals continue to recover a little bit, appreciate it.