U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday as the record-breaking rally paused ahead of the release of Friday’s jobs report. All three major indexes ended in negative territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) slid 0.6% or 248.33 points, to finish at 44,765.71.
The S&P 500 declined 0.2% or 11.38 points, to close at 6,075.11 points. Industrials, materials, healthcare and tech stocks were the worst performers. However, consumer discretionary stocks gained.
The Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) fell 1.2%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) declined 0.5%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and Healthcare Select Sector SPDR (XLV) fell 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) rose 0.8%. Six of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.2% or 34.39 points to end at 19,700.72 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 0.67% to 13.54. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.25-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.9-to-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 14.12 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 14.7 billion.
Stocks Pull Back Ahead of Jobs Report
All three major indexes retreated from their earlier highs on Thursday. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at all-time highs in the earlier session but failed to hold on to the gains as investors felt jittery ahead of Friday’s jobs report.
Experts believe Friday’s employment report will give a clearer picture of the Federal Reserve’s future rate cut path. Earlier on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the economy is stronger than what was assumed when the Fed started its rate cuts in September and lawmakers need to move carefully on future rate cuts.
Technology stocks which have been leading the rally, suffered on Thursday. Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) declined 0.8%.
Shares of Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) ended 12.4% lower after the company issued a poor revenue guidance for 2025, despite reporting an earnings beat.
The chip design company reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of $3.40 per share for the fourth quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.29 per share. Synopsys has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Also, shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) tumbled 5.2% on Thursday, a day after Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare was assassinated in Manhattan.
Thursday also saw Bitcoin (BTC) pulling back to settle below $100,000 after surpassing it for the first time on Wednesday.
Economic Data
The Labor Department reported on Thursday that jobless claims totaled 224,000 for the week ending Nov. 30, increasing 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 215,000. The four-week moving average was 218,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 217,500.
Continuing claims came in at 1,871,000, a decrease of 25,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,896,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,884,250 a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,887,500.
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