The S&P 500 Index is down 0.25%, the Dow Jones is down 0.34%, and the Nasdaq 100 is down 0.13% as of today. Concerns over the U.S. labor market were triggered by an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims, which increased by 8,000 to 247,000, marking a 7.75-month high. This rise was contrary to expectations for a decline to 235,000.
Additionally, the U.S. trade deficit for April shrank to a 20-month low of -$61.6 billion, better than the forecast of -$66.0 billion. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to a four-week low of 4.31% amidst decreasing expectations for an upcoming Federal Reserve rate cut, which now stands at 1% for the meeting on June 17-18.
