Stocks close lower again but are still up for week
A choppy day of trading ended with stocks broadly lower on Wall Street Thursday, though indexes have managed to hold on to most of their sizable gains from a big rally at the start of the week.
The S&P 500 fell 1% after having been up 0.4% in the early going. The benchmark index is up 4.4% for the week following its best two-day rally since the spring of 2020.
The selling was widespread, with roughly 80% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ending in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite lost 0.7%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks closed 0.6% lower.
Treasury yields gained ground and put more pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and many other kinds of loans, rose to 3.81% from 3.75% late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for Federal Reserve action, rose to 4.22% from 4.14% late Monday.
Investors were reviewing the latest data on jobs, which showed more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. Traders will be watching closely on Friday when the government releases its monthly job market data.
The labor market remains strong in the face of persistent inflation and a slowing overall U.S. economy. That’s good for job hunters, but could give the Federal Reserve more reason to keep raising interest rates in its bid to crush inflation. Wall Street is eager for definitive signs that inflation is on the wane and the central bank can finally ease back on its rate hikes.
The S&P 500 fell 38.76 points to 3,744.52. The Dow dropped 346.93 points to close at 29,926.94. The Nasdaq slid 75.33 points at 11,073.31. The Russell 2000 fell 10.18 points to 1,752.51.
Technology, financial and health care stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Intel dropped 1.7%, Citigroup fell 1.8%, and Johnson & Johnson fell 1.9%.
Energy stocks mostly rose as the price of U.S. crude oil increased 0.8%. Marathon Oil gained 3.9%.
Wall Street is watching employment data very closely as the Fed remains determined to raise interest rates to try and tame the hottest inflation in four decades. Investors are concerned that the Fed could go too far and push the economy into a recession.
New U.S. government data showed that more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, the largest number in four months.
The job market has been a particularly strong area of an otherwise slowing economy. Any sign that it’s weakening could factor into the the Fed’s future decisions to either remain aggressive or ease up. Government employment data released on Tuesday indicated that the job market may be cooling. A more closely watched monthly employment report, for September, will be released on Friday.
Gold for December delivery was unchanged at $1,720.80 an ounce. Silver for December delivery rose 12 cents to $20.66 an ounce.