US markets end mostly in red on Thursday

05 Jan 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in red on Thursday as traders expressed caution ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. Street currently expects employment to increase by 170,000 jobs in December after jumping by 199,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate is expected to inch up to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, a separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended December 30th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims declined to 202,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 220,000.

Street had expected jobless claims to edge down to 216,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week. Energy stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, as the price of crude oil turned lower after seeing early strength. With crude for February delivery falling $0.51 or 0.7 percent to $72.19 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 2.2 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index tumbled by 1.8 percent. Notable weakness also emerged among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.0 percent drop by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.

Nasdaq dropped 81.91 points or 0.56 percent to 14,510.3 and S&P 500 was down by 16.13 points 0.34 percent to 4,688.68, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.15 points or 0.03 percent to 37,440.34. 


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