US markets end in red on Thursday

16 Sep 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday, with Nasdaq settling around one and half percent, as investors mulled over several economic reports that showed a muddy picture of the U.S. economy. The Federal Reserve released a report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in US industrial production in the month of August. The report said industrial production edged down by 0.2 percent in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in July. Street had expected industrial production to inch up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department showing an unexpected increase in retail sales in the month of August, although the sales growth followed a revised decrease in July. The report showed retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in August following a revised 0.4 percent decrease in July. Street had expected retail sales to come in unchanged, matching the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a rebound in auto sales, retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in August following a revised unchanged reading in July. Ex-auto sales were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. A separate report released by the Labor Department unexpectedly showed another modest decrease in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended September 10th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 213,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 226,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week. On the sectoral front, Gold stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, resulting in a 3.1 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. A sharp pullback by the price of crude oil also weighed on energy stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.27 points or 0.56 percent to 30,961.82, Nasdaq dropped 167.32 points or 1.43 percent to 11,552.36 and S&P 500 was down by 44.66 points 1.13 percent to 3,901.35.

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