US markets end lower on Thursday

17 Feb 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday following the release of a Labor Department report showing a bigger than expected increase in producer prices. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.7 percent in January after edging down by a revised 0.2 percent in December. Street had expected producer prices to increase by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month. While the report also showed the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 6.0 percent in January from 6.5 percent in December, the year-over-year growth was expected to slow to 5.4 percent. Following the consumer price inflation and retail sales data released earlier this week, the report added to worries about the outlook for interest rates.

Traders have recently expressed concerns the Federal Reserve will raise rates higher than currently anticipated in an effort to combat inflation. On the sectoral front, software stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 2.7 percent. Substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent slump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Airline stocks also showed a significant move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 2.4 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 431.2 points or 1.26 percent to 33,696.85, Nasdaq dropped 214.76 points or 1.78 percent to 11,855.83 and S&P 500 was down by 57.19 points or 1.38 percent to 4,090.41.

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