US markets end lower amid worries about economic outlook

18 Sep 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday amid worries about economic outlook. The weakness on markets came as stocks extended the sell-off seen on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve revealed plans to leave interest rates at near-zero levels for years to come. The Fed’s dovish monetary policy announcement was expected to help calm the markets, although investors seem to be viewing the central bank's projections as a sign the economic recovery will not be as swift as many were hoping. Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that the pace of the recovery is expected to slow and called for fiscal stimulus from Congress. Lawmakers have remained at an impasse over a new coronavirus stimulus bill for weeks, and the upcoming elections could make reaching a compromise more difficult.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for US unemployment benefits fell less than expected in the week ended September 12th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 860,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 893,000. Street had expected jobless claims to dip to 850,000 from the 884,000 originally reported for the previous week. The Commerce Department also released a report showing new residential construction pulled back by much more than expected in the month of August. The report said housing starts tumbled by 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.416 million in August after soaring by 17.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.492 million in July. Street had expected housing starts to pullback by 1.2 percent to a rate of 1.478 million from the 1.496 million originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 130.4 points or 0.47 percent to 27,901.98, Nasdaq fell 140.19 points or 1.27 percent 10,910.28 and S&P 500 was down by 28.48 points or 0.84 percent to 3,357.01.  

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