US markets end lower on Thursday

19 Jul 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday. The weakness on markets partly reflected concerns about the near-term outlook for the markets following the tech sell-off on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq record its worst day since December 2022 after a private report said President Joe Biden's administration is considering tougher trade rules against companies in its chip crackdown on China. It said the administration has told allies that it's considering using the most severe trade restrictions available if companies continue giving China access to advanced semiconductor technology. On the sectoral front, Airline stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, resulting in a 3.8 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Substantial weakness was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index.

On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed by much more than expected in the week ended July 13th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 243,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000. Street had expected initial jobless claims to edge up to 230,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a separate report showing growth by regional manufacturing was more widespread in the month of July. The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity jumped to 13.9 in July from 1.3 in June, with a positive reading indicating growth. Street had expected the index to inch up to 2.9.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 533.06 points or 1.29 percent to 40,665.02, Nasdaq dropped 125.7 points or 0.7 percent to 17,871.22 and S&P 500 was down by 43.68 points or 0.78 percent to 5,544.59.  


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