US close: Stocks give up 3 days of gains as bond yields, oil fall

US shares closed slightly lower on Thursday as the S&P 500 gave up three days of gains as bond yields and oil prices fell.

The S&P was down 3.61 points to 2,115, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 19.52 points lower to 17,985 and the Nasdaq slipped 16 points to 4,958.

Oil prices slipped again as the dollar strengthened. Brent crude fell 0.97% to $50.58, while West Texas Intermediate was down 1.27% to $50.58 which in turn hit oil and energy equities.

Investors were holding back ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve policy announcement. However, many expect the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged after a weak non-farm payrolls report last Friday and a dovish speech by chair Janet Yellen.

This led to a move towards treasuries on both sides of the Atlantic as uncertainty over the next US rate move and the potential exit of the UK from the European Union caused jitters.

On the data front, initial weekly jobless claims fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 264,000 for the week ended 4, June, the Labor Department said, against forecasts of an increase to 270,000.

More recent labour market data on Wednesday showed job openings rose 2% to 5.8m, but hiring slipped for the second straight month to just under 5.1m.

“The sudden stop in employment growth rules out any chance of a rate hike from the Fed at next week’s FOMC meeting, particularly now that the UK vote on whether to leave the European Union (EU) appears to be going down to the wire,” said Capital Economics.

Among corporate stocks, Apple shares slid in early trade but recovered ground after the company said it will allow more apps to charge customers via subscriptions.

NRG Energy and Freeport McMoRan felt the pinch of the oil price fall, with both closing lower and the former suffering from a UBS downgrade to 'sell'.

Restoration Hardware Holdings plunged after the retailer late Wednesday said it swung to a first-quarter loss and lowered its guidance for 2016.

J Smucker tasted sweet to investors after posting a healthy rise in adjusted fourth quarter earnings which beat forecasts.

American Airlines shares flew higher after the company announced a 0.5% year-on-year rise in revenue passenger miles.

Boston Scientific Corp gained ahead of the bell on news it is restructuring to save the medical device maker up to $150m per year by 2020.

S&P 500 - Risers
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $143.53 +8.15%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $14.77 +4.57%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $46.13 +3.73%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $25.93 +3.62%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $77.74 +3.57%
Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $61.42 +2.78%
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $21.59 +2.76%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $33.40 +2.75%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $96.22 +2.65%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $96.17 +2.61%

S&P 500 - Fallers
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $16.59 -6.69%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.85 -6.30%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $30.12 -4.14%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $29.89 -3.84%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $44.01 -3.33%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $27.32 -3.24%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.82 -3.12%
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $416.17 -3.03%
Legg Mason Inc. (LM) $33.31 -3.03%
Ryder System Inc. (R) $67.73 -2.97%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $54.86 +1.36%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $117.13 +1.14%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $51.99 +0.91%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $99.69 +0.76%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.25 +0.73%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $122.92 +0.66%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.41 +0.46%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.76 +0.46%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.99 +0.31%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $102.28 +0.21%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $77.30 -1.04%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $153.35 -0.83%
American Express Co. (AXP) $65.74 -0.78%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $64.82 -0.67%
3M Co. (MMM) $170.35 -0.62%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $57.28 -0.60%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $51.73 -0.60%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $68.01 -0.53%
Visa Inc. (V) $81.33 -0.39%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $153.49 -0.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
American Airlines Group (AAL) $33.40 +2.75%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $47.35 +2.53%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $21.72 +2.24%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $54.36 +1.70%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $37.38 +1.12%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $17.91 +1.07%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $38.49 +0.97%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $648.91 +0.94%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $55.43 +0.93%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $180.71 +0.88%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $44.01 -3.33%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $40.85 -2.75%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $27.36 -2.43%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $230.01 -2.34%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $36.65 -2.24%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $26.30 -2.23%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $32.26 -2.10%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $85.77 -1.89%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $92.82 -1.87%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $43.10 -1.83%