US markets end lower amid anxiety over trade

22 Nov 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday after investors digested mixed headlines on the progress of trade negotiations, with reports saying that China had invited American negotiators to Beijing for face-to-face talks, even though the US Congress passed a bill supporting protesters in Hong Kong late Wednesday. Liu voiced optimism over a phase-one trade deal at a dinner in Beijing, though Liu also said he was confused about trade demands by the US, but believes an agreement will be reached. Thursday marked the third consecutive losing session for both the Dow and S&P 500, while the Nasdaq closed lower for the second day in a row. On the economic data front, existing home sales in the US rebounded by more than expected in the month of October, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR said existing home sales jumped by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in October after tumbling by 2.5 percent to a revised rate of 5.360 million in September.

Street had expected existing home sales to surge up by 1.4 percent compared to the 2.2 percent slump originally reported for the previous month. Besides, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for US unemployment benefits came in unchanged in the week ended November 16. The report said initial jobless claims came in at 227,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Street had expected jobless claims to dip to 219,000 from the 225,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the unchanged figure, jobless claims are hovering at their highest level since hitting 229,000 in the week ended June 22. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 221,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 217,500.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 54.80 points or 0.20 percent to 27766.29, Nasdaq fell 20.52 points or 0.24 percent to 8506.21 and S&P 500 was down by 4.92 points or 0.16 percent to 3103.54.

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