US markets end mostly in red on Thursday

05 Aug 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in red on Thursday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. The report is expected to show employment increased by 250,000 jobs in July after jumping by 372,000 jobs in June. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.6 percent. The strength of the jobs report could impact the outlook for interest rates, although the Federal Reserve will have much more data to digest before their next meeting in September. The Labor Department released a report showing a modest increase in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended July 30th. The report showed initial jobless claims crept up to 260,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 254,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 259,000 from the 256,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing the US trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in the month of June. The report showed the trade deficit narrowed to $79.6 billion in June from a revised $84.9 billion in May. Street had expected the trade deficit to shrink to $81.9 billion from the $85.5 billion originally reported for the previous month. The decrease in the size of the trade deficit came as the value of exports surged by 1.7 percent to $260.8 billion, while the value of imports edged down by 0.3 percent to $340.4 billion. On the sectoral front, gold stocks moved sharply higher on the day, rebounding along with the price of the precious metal. Biotechnology stocks also saw substantial strength, extending the rally seen on Wednesday. The NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index jumped by 2.7 percent to its best closing level in well over three months.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85.68 points or 0.26 percent to 32,726.82 and S&P 500 was down by 3.23 points or 0.08 percent to 4,151.94, while Nasdaq rose 52.42 points or 0.41 percent to 12,720.58. 

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