US markets end lower on Thursday

31 Dec 2021 Evaluate

The US markets settled lower on Thursday on profit taking after the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record intraday highs in early trading. Stocks initially benefited from recent upward momentum, which has helped the markets largely offset the pullback seen in reaction to initial reports about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. With early indications that the Omicron variant causes milder symptoms, traders seem optimistic the new strain will not derail the economic recovery. However, trading activity remained somewhat subdued as some traders looked to get a head start on New Year's festivities.

On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest drop in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended December 25th. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 198,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 206,000. The slight pullback surprised participants, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 208,000 from the 205,000 originally reported for the previous week. A separate report from MNI Indicators growth in Chicago-area business activity picked back up in the month of December. MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer rose to 63.1 in December from 61.8 in November, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Street had expected the business barometer to inch up to 62.0.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 90.55 points or 0.25 percent to 36,398.08, Nasdaq dropped 24.65 points or 0.16 percent to 15,741.56 and S&P 500 was down by 14.33 points or 0.3 percent to 4,778.73.   

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