US stocks end mixed amid economic data
New York: Wall Street’s major averages finished mixed on Thursday as investors pored through the newly-released weekly report on US jobless claims.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 361.19 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 25,706.09. The S&P 500 was down 17.89 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 3,152.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 55.25 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 10,547.75, Xinhua reported.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed lower, with energy and financials down 4.04 per cent and 2.33 per cent, respectively, leading the laggards. Technology and consumer discretionary climbed 0.15 per cent and 0.11 per cent, respectively, the only two gainers.
Meanwhile, U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher, with eight of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P US Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
On the data front, US initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 1.314 million in the week ending July 4, following a revised 1.413 million in the prior week, as the pandemic continues to weigh on the labor market, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
More than 3 million confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported in the United States, with nearly 133,000 deaths, as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
