US markets end marginally lower on Thursday

06 Oct 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended marginally lower on Thursday as traders remain worried about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched employment data on Friday. The Labor Department is expected to show employment increased by 170,000 jobs in September after climbing by 187,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 3.7 percent from 3.8 percent. However, selling pressure waned over the course of the session, with a continue pullback by treasuries inspiring some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels. On the sectoral front, Biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.5 percent. The index continued to regain ground after ending Tuesday's session at an eleven-month closing low. 

Significant strength also emerged among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Securities Arca Broker/Dealer Index. Gold and natural gas stocks also saw notable strength on the day on the day, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index climbing by 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims inched slightly higher in the week ended September 30th. The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 207,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 205,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 210,000 from the 204,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.98 points or 0.03 percent to 33,119.57, Nasdaq lost 16.18 points or 0.12 percent to 13,219.83 and S&P 500 was down by 5.56 points or 0.13 percent to 4,258.19. 


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