US close: Stocks lower as traders digest multiple data points
Wall Street stocks closed lower on Thursday as fears over tighter monetary policy remained in focus and investors digested a number of key data points.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.47% at 36,236.47, while the S&P 500 was 0.10% weaker at 4,696.05 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.13% softer at 15,080.86.
The Dow closed 170.64 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve Bank meeting revealed a more hawkish tone than previously communicated, with some officials looking to raise interest rates faster and trim its $8.8trn balance sheet to combat spiralling costs of living.
In the corporate space, Walgreens-Boots Alliance lifted forecasts but warned of rising labour costs as a result of efforts to keep up with Covid vaccines and tests and Bed Bath & Beyond said supply chain issues had led to its third-quarter results falling shy of expectations.
On the macro front, first-time claims for unemployment benefits came in at 207,000 in the week ended 1 January, according to the Labor Department, up from 200,000 in the previous week and above the 195,000 forecast by economists.
Continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline number, also increased, rising by 36,000 to 1.75m, while the four-week moving average, which accounts for weekly volatility in the numbers, grew to 204,500.
Also on jobs, Challenger, Gray & Christmas' December jobs cuts report revealed that US employers had announced plans to cut 19.052 jobs last month, roughly 75% lower than the figure reported at the same time a year earlier. For the whole of 2021, employers announced plans to cut 321,970 jobs from their payrolls - the lowest annual total on record since tracking began in 1993.
Elsewhere, November's trade balance came to a print of -$80.17bn - larger than the $77.1bn expected on the Street, just shy of the September deficit of -$81.44bn, with exports up 0.2% and imports rising 4.6%.
Still on data, the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing PMI printed at 62.0 in December, falling short of estimates for a reading of 66.9.
Lastly, factory orders increased strongly in November, according to the Commerce Department, rising 1.6%, while data for October was revised higher to show orders rising 1.2% instead of 1.0% as previously reported.
Dow Jones - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $162.33 1.60%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $156.90 1.09%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $165.52 1.06%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $60.92 1.06%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $221.99 1.02%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $269.69 0.94%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $123.26 0.83%
American Express Co. (AXP) $172.90 0.66%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $229.15 0.65%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $54.01 0.26%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $469.65 -4.09%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $52.44 -2.89%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $135.34 -2.08%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $172.00 -1.67%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $162.83 -0.84%
3M Co. (MMM) $178.00 -0.83%
Boeing Co. (BA) $211.34 -0.81%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $313.88 -0.79%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $161.04 -0.75%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.47 -0.53%
S&P 500 - Risers
Svb Financial Group (SIVB) $733.29 7.53%
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $67.82 7.45%
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) $53.80 5.53%
Hess Corp. (HES) $85.25 5.47%
Keycorp (KEY) $25.93 5.11%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $24.59 4.86%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $18.03 4.76%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $123.65 4.69%
Comerica Inc. (CMA) $96.49 4.49%
Apache Corp. (APA) $29.62 4.30%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Humana Inc. (HUM) $367.53 -19.40%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $62.34 -6.40%
Nucor Corp. (NUE) $116.60 -4.99%
Accenture Plc (ACN) $377.98 -4.83%
NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) $85.77 -4.41%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $76.34 -4.35%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $164.61 -4.21%
Anthem Inc (ANTM) $439.46 -4.10%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $469.65 -4.09%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $227.54 -3.80%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $66.78 5.97%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $150.75 4.77%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $7.95 3.79%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $66.81 3.60%
NortonLifeLock Inc. (NLOK) $27.06 3.28%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $72.63 3.09%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $378.93 3.00%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $192.27 2.73%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $432.22 2.73%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $332.46 2.56%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $164.61 -4.21%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $63.82 -3.73%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $64.74 -3.46%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $129.69 -3.07%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $94.30 -3.00%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $52.44 -2.89%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $553.29 -2.51%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $334.18 -2.27%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $1,064.70 -2.13%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $112.33 -2.07%