US markets end mostly in red on Thursday

06 Sep 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday following the release of mixed readings on employment ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. Payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of August. ADP said private sector employment rose by 99,000 jobs in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 111,000 jobs in July. Street had expected private sector employment to jump by 145,000 jobs compared to the addition of 122,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a separate report showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 31st.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 227,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 232,000. Street had expected jobless claims to edge down to 230,000 from the 231,000 originally reported for the previous week. On the sectoral front, while most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, pharmaceutical stocks saw considerable weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 1.9 percent. Healthcare, computer hardware and oil producer stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, while airline stocks saw significant strength. Reflecting the strength in the airline sector, the NYSE Arca Airline Index jumped by 1.9 percent to its best closing level in a month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 219.22 points or 0.54 percent to 40,755.75 and S&P 500 was down by 16.66 points or 0.3 percent to 5,503.41, while Nasdaq rose 43.37 points or 0.25 percent to 17,127.66.   


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