US markets end lower on Thursday

18 Aug 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday, magnifying recent losses, amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation. Further, weakness also prevailed in the markets as yields on long term Treasury Notes climbed to a 16-year high. In the stock specific developments, Walgreens Boots Alliance fell more than 3 percent. Boeing, United Health, Apple, Home Depot, Salesforce.com and Nike declined 1.4 to 2.3 percen. Meta Platforms shares ended more than 3 percent down. Intel, Apple Inc and Microsoft also closed notably lower. Walmart shares ended lower by more than 2 percent despite the company lifting its annual guidance after second quarter results beat expectations. However, Cisco Systems climbed about 3.3 percent, lifted by better than expected fourth-quarter results.

On the economic data front, data from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline in the week ended August 12th. The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 239,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 250,000. Street had expected jobless claims to dip to 240,000 from the 248,000 originally reported for the previous week. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 234,250, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 231,500. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index increased to +12 in August, up from -13.5 in July.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 290.91 points or 0.84 percent to 34,474.83, Nasdaq declined 157.7 points or 1.17 percent to 13,316.93 and S&P 500 was down by 33.97 points or 0.77 percent to 4,370.36.


© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×