US markets end lower on Thursday

23 Aug 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday on profit taking. Traders have been reluctant to continue buying stocks ahead of the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, with traders looking for the central bank chief's comments to provide further clarity about the outlook for rates. Besides, negative sentiment generated in reaction to a rebound by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bouncing off its lowest closing level in well over a year. On the sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks came under substantial selling pressure over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 3.4 percent. Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The index pulled back off its best closing level in well over two years amid a steep drop by the price of gold.

On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest rebound by initial jobless claims in the week ended August 17th. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 232,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 228,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a separate report showing existing home sales snapped a four-month skid in July, with sales rebounding by slightly more than expected. NAR said existing home sales shot up by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 3.95 million in July after plunging by 5.1 percent to a revised rate of 3.90 million in June.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 177.71 points or 0.43 percent to 40,712.78, Nasdaq dropped 299.63 points or 1.67 percent to 17,619.35 and S&P 500 was down by 50.21 points or 0.89 percent to 5,570.64.  


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