US markets end lower on Thursday

19 Feb 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday following the release of a Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims came in well above street estimates in the week ended February 13th, with claims rising from a significantly upwardly revised level. The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 861,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 848,000. Street had expected jobless claims to dip to 765,000 from the 793,000 originally reported for the previous week. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing housing starts pulled back by much more than expected in the month of January. The Commerce Department said housing starts tumbled by 6.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.580 million in January after soaring by 8.2 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 1.680 million in December.

Street had expected housing stocks to decrease by 0.7 percent to a rate of 1.658 million from the 1.669 million originally reported for the previous month. The upwardly revised rate seen in December reflected the highest annual rate of housing starts since September of 2006. Besides, a negative reaction to earnings reports from Walmart contributed to sell-off on markets, with the retail giant plunging by 6.5 percent. The steep drop by Walmart came after the company reported weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings and warned of slowing sales growth in the coming year.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 119.68 points or 0.38 percent to 31,493.34. Nasdaq fell 100.14 points or 0.72 percent to 13,865.36 and S&P 500 was down by 17.36 points or 0.44 percent to 3,913.97.

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