Stocks fell broadly on Thursday, with the S&P 500 logging its fifth straight decline as technology names continued to face selling pressure and Walmart shares retreated after its quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 216 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite also shed 0.4%.
Walmart shares slid more than 4% after the retailer topped Wall Street’s sales estimates but missed on earnings, its first quarterly earnings miss since May 2022.
Investor focus now turns to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is set to speak Friday at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole symposium.
Markets are looking for signals on the path of interest rates, with futures pricing nearly an 80% chance of a rate cut at the Fed’s September meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting showed policymakers remain concerned about both inflation and the labour market, though most judged it premature to cut rates.
Notably, Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented against keeping rates unchanged — the first dual dissent from Fed board members since 1993.
Heavy selling in tech has weighed on markets this week, with investors taking profits in high-profile stocks including Nvidia, Palantir, and Meta.
The S&P 500 is down 0.8% for the week, while the Nasdaq has lost about 2.1%. The Dow is little changed week to date.
US jobless claims rise
US unemployment benefit applications rose last week to the highest level since June, with continuing claims climbing to levels not seen since late 2021, adding to signs of a cooling labour market.
Initial claims increased by 11,000 to 235,000 in the week ended August 16, compared with the 225,000 forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Continuing claims, which track the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.97 million in the week ended August 9 — the highest since November 2021, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
The latest rise in continuing claims suggests that out-of-work Americans are finding it harder to secure new employment, compounding concerns raised by the most recent jobs report, which showed subdued hiring and a higher unemployment rate.
The four-week moving average of initial applications, which smooths out weekly volatility, climbed to 226,250 — the highest in a month.
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