US markets end mostly in green on Thursday

17 Nov 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday despite a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed by much more than expected in the week ended November 11th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 231,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 217,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the bigger than expected, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 232,000 in the week ended August 19th. The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also climbed to 220,250, an increase of 7,750 from the previous week's revised average of 212,500.

Meanwhile, with mortgage rates approaching 8 percent earlier this month, the National Association of Home Builders released a report unexpectedly showing a continued deterioration in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of November. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index slumped to 34 in November from 40 in October, while street had expected the index to come in unchanged. The housing market index decreased for the fourth consecutive month, falling to its lowest level since hitting 31 in December 2022. On the sectoral front, Energy stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, with a steep drop by the price of crude oil weighing the sector. With crude for December delivery plummeting $3.76 to $72.90 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index dove by 3.6 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index tumbled by 2.4 percent.

Nasdaq added 9.84 points or 0.07 percent to 14,113.67 and S&P 500 was up by 5.36 points or 0.12 percent to 4,508.24, Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.74 points or 0.13 percent to 34,945.47. 

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