Stocks end lower on Wall Street, extending weekly losses – KIRO 7 News Seattle

0
377

Wall Street stocks continued to lose ground Thursday after a small initial gain eased, moving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq towards their first weekly decline in three weeks.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, its fourth straight decline. Healthcare and technology companies were the largest holdings in the benchmark index, offsetting gains from banks and energy stocks.

The most recent retreat came as investors continued to assess the pace of economic growth as they fear the rapid spread of the Coronavirus Delta variant will dampen consumer confidence and spending.

“The economy seems to be slowing a little and it’s hard to tell how much is temporary due to the Delta variant and how much is the new normal,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of the Independent Advisor Alliance.

The S&P 500 lost 20.79 points to 4,493.28. The index is now within 1% of the all-time high it hit last Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 151.69 points, or 0.4%, to 34,879.38 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 38.38 points, or 0.3%, to 15,248.25.

Small company stocks outperformed the broader market. The Russell 2000 Index lost 0.60 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,249.13.

Most bond yields fell. The 10-year government bond yield slipped from 1.33% on Wednesday to 1.30%.

The shortened vacation week has given investors several reports, some of which are contradicting, to check clues as to the direction of the economy.

The Department of Labor said Thursday that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to 310,000 last week. At their current pace, the weekly claims for benefits are approaching their pre-pandemic number of around 225,000.

The bullish report follows others who show the labor market is still struggling to recover. The Labor Department’s August job survey was far weaker than economists expected, but the agency also reported employers posting record jobs.

“The big question is whether the labor market will be much stronger towards the end of this year and into next year,” said Zaccarelli.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that its latest survey of the country’s business conditions, dubbed the “Beige Book,” showed that US economic activity “shifted down” in July and August.

The central bank said the slowdown was largely due to declines in restaurants, travel and tourism in most of the country, reflecting concerns over the spread of the highly contagious variant of the Delta.

Fed officials have announced they will pull back stimulus measures by the end of the year, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned Congress that she will run out of margin to keep the US from exceeding the government’s credit limit in October unless that Debt ceiling is raised.

Biogen lost 6.7% for its biggest loss in the S&P 500 on Thursday, followed by Eli Lilly, which fell 5.8%. In technology stocks, Microsoft fell 1%. Banks and energy companies resisted the wider pullback. Wells Fargo & Co. was up 1.2% while Marathon Oil was up 1.4%.

Traders were also keeping an eye on some company profit reports. Lululemon was up 10.5% after the sportswear seller’s quarterly results were well above analysts’ expectations. Boston Beer slumped 3.8% after it withdrew its earnings forecast.