Dow Dips 250 Points; US Weekly Jobless Claims Surge

Author: Avi Kapoor | July 18, 2024 12:06pm

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 200 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 0.61% to 40,947.68 while the NASDAQ fell 1.22% to 17,776.55. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.79% to 5,544.08.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 0.7% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, information technology shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 243,000 in the week ending July 13, compared to market estimates of 230,000.

Equities Trading UP

CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMM) shares shot up 15% to $1.9693. Amphenol announced plans to acquire mobile networks businesses from CommScope.
Shares of Silo Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:SILO) got a boost, surging 79% to $4.0391. Silo Pharma said it has entered into a Device and CMC Development Master Plan with Resyca BV, a medical technology provider.
Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) shares were also up, gaining 48% to $37.35 after Darden Restaurants announced it will acquire the company.

Equities Trading DOWN

Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) shares dropped 56% to $7.80 after the company announced the FDA discouraged an accelerated approval pathway at the end-of-Phase 2 meeting.
Shares of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) were down 36% to $2.6299 after the company reported preliminary financial results for the third quarter and cut its full-year guidance. Multiple analysts also lowered price targets on the stock Thursday morning.
Torrid Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CURV) was down, falling 18% to $7.05 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Underweight and maintained its $5 price target.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8% to $82.19 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,469.40.

Silver traded down 0.1% to $30.36 on Thursday, while copper fell 2.6% to $4.2920.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.27%, Germany's DAX rose 0.01% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.68%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.58%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.45%.

Construction output in the Eurozone fell 2.4% year-over-year in May compared to a revised 1.5% decline in the prior month. Passenger car registrations in the European Union climbed 4.3% year-over-year to 1.1 million units in June.

Regular pay in the U.K., excluding bonus payment, rose 5.7% year-over-year to GBP 643/week during the three months to May, while the unemployment rate came in unchanged at 4.4% from March to May.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dipping 2.36%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 0.22%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.48% and India's S&P BSE Sensex climbing 0.78%.

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3% during the three months ending June. Japan reported a trade surplus of JPY 224.04 billion in June, compared to market views for a deficit of JPY 240 billion.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 243,000 in the week ending July 13, compared to market estimates of 230,000.
The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 13.9 in July, recording the strongest level in three months, versus 1.3 in June.
The EIA said U.S. natural gas stocks rose by 10 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 12, compared to market estimates of a 28 billion cubic feet gain.

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