US markets slip; S&P, Dow see worst ever start to new year

08 Jan 2016 Evaluate

The US markets closed lower on Thursday, marking a steep loss during the first four trading sessions of 2016, the worst start to a new year for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average in history. On the economy front, the number of Americans who applied for new unemployment benefits in 2015 fell to the lowest level in 42 years. Fresh government figures show 277,000 people filed initial jobless claims in the seven days running from December 27 to January 2. That is down 100,000 from an unrevised 287,000 in the prior week. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, slipped a smaller 1,250 to 275,750. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Initial claims offer a rough guide on how many people lose their jobs. For all of 2015, new claims averaged about 278,000 a week, marking the first time since 1999 that they’ve ended below 300,000. The number of initial claims in 2015 was also the smallest since a 244,000 weekly average in 1973.

Meanwhile, Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans stated that his view of the US interest rate path in 2016 was consistent with two hikes, and cautioned that monetary policy must take into account the potential for lower economic growth in the long term. Evans added that slower growth in the number of available workers, an aging population and possible slower technological progress compared to the last 20 years were among the factors that could lead to what he described as the troubling feature of lower long-run growth. Elsewhere in the economy, Evans reiterated that domestic spending looks good, that there remains some additional labor market slack and that he sees lower energy prices and the strong dollar to dissipating over the coming year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 392.41 points or 2.32 percent to 16,514.10, the Nasdaq was down 146.34 points or 3.03 percent to 4,689.43 while, the S&P 500 dropped 47.17 points or 2.37 percent to 1,943.09.

The Indian ADRs closed in red; HDFC Bank was down 1.73%, Tata Motors was down by 1.65%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.80%, ICICI Bank was down by 0.23% and Wipro was down by 0.07%.

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