US markets end lower on Thursday

06 Jan 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday, with Nasdaq settling cut of over one and half percent, as strong labor data and hawkish Fed commentary signaled more aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes to come. Payroll processor ADP showed private sector employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of December. ADP said private sector employment shot up by 235,000 jobs in December after surging by an upwardly revised 182,000 jobs in November. Street had expected employment to jump by about 150,000 jobs compared to the addition of 127,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Traders worry continued labor market tightness could encourage the Federal Reserve to continue aggressively raising interest rates in the coming months. On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched employment report for the month of December.

On the sectoral front, Software stocks turned in some of the worst performances on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index tumbling by 3.2 percent to a nearly two-month closing low. Interest rate-sensitive commercial real estate and utilities stocks also saw considerable weakness, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index and the Dow Jones Utility Average down by 2.7 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Chemical stocks also showed a significant move to the downside, resulting in a 2.2 percent slump by the S&P Chemical Sector Index. Semiconductor, transportation and banking stocks also saw notable weakness, while energy, steel and airline stocks bucked the downtrend.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 339.69 points or 1.02 percent to 32,930.08, Nasdaq dropped 153.52 points or 1.47 percent to 10,305.24 and S&P 500 was down by 44.87 points or 1.16 percent to 3,808.1.

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