US markets end lower as consumer price growth in US reaches 40-year high in February

11 Mar 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday after the Labor Department released a report showing a continued acceleration in the annual rate of U.S. consumer price growth in the month of February. The report showed the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 7.9 percent in February from 7.5 percent in January, reaching the highest rate since January 1982. Meanwhile, first-time claims for US unemployment benefits saw a modest increase in the week ended March 5th, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The report showed initial jobless claims crept up to 227,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 216,000. Street had expected jobless claims to tick up to 216,000 from the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also inched up to 231,250, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 230,750.

Besides, weakness also prevailed in the markets after failed peace talks between Ukraine and Russia spooked investors about how the geopolitical conflict could impact global growth. Negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers ended with little progress on matters including a cease-fire or a safe passage for civilians trying to flee the besieged city of Mariupol. Markets have been tied closely to the conflict and have been inversely correlated with energy prices, which have been on a tear higher during the Russia-Ukraine war. Since February 24 - when Russia invaded Ukraine - West Texas Intermediate crude have risen more than 14%, while Brent crude oil is up about 15% in that time. On the sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.2 percent. Significant weakness was also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent drop by the KBW Bank Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 112.18 points or 0.34 percent to 33,174.07, Nasdaq dropped 125.58 points or 0.95 percent to 13,129.96 and S&P 500 was down by 18.36 points or 0.43 percent to 4,259.52.

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