| Wall Street finished in the red on Thursday, as investors sifted through more earnings and data releases for some fresh cues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.34% at 24,664.89, the S&P 500 was off 0.57% at 2,693.13, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.85% to 6,774.89. Early losses dragged the Dow back into negative territory for the year, after it finished in the red on Wednesday, dragged down by a fall in IBM shares. “The Dow Jones sporadically dipped back under 24700 after the bell, slipping 30 or so points,” noted Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx. “This doesn’t really mean much, however, beyond that there has been little to help the Dow continue the rallying run that finally lifted it to a one month high on Wednesday. "The question now is whether the Dow can continue to build beyond the levels it was at before March’s acute trade war fears set in, or if its stalling momentum will pull it lower," he added. On the corporate front, Amazon was up 1.90% after chief executive Jeff Bezos said in an annual letter to shareholders that the company’s Amazon Prime subscription programme has exceeded 100 million members worldwide. Procter and Gamble was down 3.27% after agreeing to buy a consumer health business from Merck in a $4.2bn deal. Philip Morris International tumbled 15.62% after beating profits but falling short on revenues, and steel producer Nucor lost 0.49% after topping profit forecasts on increased shipment selling prices. American Express picked up 7.59% following stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings late on Wednesday. In economic news, the number of new people filing for unemployment benefits in the US was little changed last week, holding near the lowest levels seen for several decades as initial jobless claims declined by 1,000 over the week ending on 14 April to reach 232,000, according to the Department of Labor. The prior week's estimate of 233,000 claims was unrevised, the government said. Also according to Labor, claims data in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands had yet to return to normal. Elsewhere, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly improved in April, according to a survey that showed the index for current manufacturing activity in the region rose to 23.2 from 22.3 in March, beating expectations for a drop to 21.0. A reading above zero signals expansion. Meanwhile, the new orders index fell to 18.4 from 35.7, while the shipments index declined to 23.9 from 32.4 in March. However, the prices paid index rose to 56.4 in April from 42.6 the month before. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment