US markets end lower on disappointing jobs data

17 Jul 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday in a decline led by technology stocks as investors parsed mixed corporate earnings reports and economic data in the wake of a drop in Asian markets. US-China tensions were also a factor. Weakness on markets also came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing the decline in first-time claims for unemployment benefits nearly ground to a halt last week. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 1.300 million in the week ended July 11th, a decrease of just 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level 1.310 million. Street had expected jobless claims to drop to 1.250 million from the 1.314 million originally reported for the previous week. Jobless claims fell for the fifteenth consecutive week, although the pace of decline has slowed considerably from April and May.

The negative sentiment was partly offset by a report from the Commerce Department showing another substantial increase in retail sales in June, although the data was seen as old news as some states roll back their reopening plans due to a surge in coronavirus cases. The report said retail sales soared by 7.5 percent in June after skyrocketing by an upwardly revised 18.2 percent in May. Street had expected retail sales to jump by 5.0 percent compared to the 17.7 percent spike originally reported for the previous month. Excluding sales by motor vehicles and parts dealers, retail sales still shot up by 7.3 percent in May after soaring by 12.1 percent in May. Ex-auto sales were also expected to surge up by 5.0 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 135.39 points or 0.5 percent to 26,734.71, Nasdaq fell 76.66 points or 0.73 percent 10,473.83 and S&P 500 was down by 10.99 points or 0.34 percent to 3,215.57.

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