US markets end deeply in red on profit booking

04 Sep 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended deeply in red on Thursday as some traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. Tech giants Apple, Microsoft Alphabet and Amazon all posted steep losses on the day following recent strength. The fall came a day after the S&P 500 claimed its 22nd record close of the year, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite arrived at its 43rd such all-time high and the Dow topped the 29,000 level for the first time since February. On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for US unemployment benefits tumbled by more than expected in the week ended August 29th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims declined to 881,000, a decrease of 130,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1.011 million. Street had expected jobless claims to drop to 950,000 from the 1.006 million originally reported for the previous week.

A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in service sector activity in the month of August. The ISM said its services PMI dipped to 56.9 in August from 58.1 in July, but a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the service sector. Street had expected the index to edge down to 57.0. Meanwhile, with imports spiking by more than exports, the Commerce Department released a report showing the US trade deficit widened by much more than expected in the month of July. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit expanded to $63.6 billion in July from a revised $53.5 billion in June. The deficit in July was the widest since reaching $67.0 billion in July of 2008. Street had expected the trade deficit to widen to $58.0 billion from the $50.7 billion originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 807.77 points or 2.78 percent to 28,292.73, Nasdaq dropped 598.34 points or 4.96 percent 11,458.10 and S&P 500 was down by 125.78 points or 3.51 percent to 3,455.06.

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