The US markets closed lower on Thursday, falling amid a global rout led by tumbling oil prices and losses in financial stocks. The main indexes tried to stage a comeback in late-afternoon trade, after the oil minister of the United Arab Emirates stated that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are ready to cooperate on a production cut. But the remarks, reported by The Wall Street Journal, weren’t enough to sustain the rebound. Remarks from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen during her second day of testimony on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, didn’t help lift investor sentiment. The Fed chairwoman didn’t say anything about the US central bank’s own forecast, made in December, that it would raise interest rates four times in 2016. Federal Reserve expects economic growth to be 2% or slightly above for the next several years. Inflation will return to the Fed’s target rate of 2% during this period.
On the economy front, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits in early February fell to the lowest level in almost two months, a reassuring sign that few workers are losing their jobs despite a slowdown in hiring. Initial jobless claims declined by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 269,000 in the seven days stretching from January 31 to February 6. The four-week average of initial jobless claims slipped 3,500 to 281,250. The monthly number is viewed as a more reliable indicator of labor-market trends.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 254.56 points or 1.60 percent to 15,660.18, the Nasdaq was down 16.75 points or 0.39 percent to 4,266.84 while, the S&P 500 was down by 22.78 points or 1.23 percent to 1,829.08.
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