US close: Stocks weaker after jobless claims surge

Wall Street stocks were in negative territory at the close on Thursday, as market participants monitored developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and digested a number of data points.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.78% at 34,312.03, as the S&P 500 lost 2.12% to 4,380.26 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 2.88% at 13,716.72.

The Dow closed 622.24 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as investors thumbed over minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting.

Thursday's primary focus will be this week's jobless claims report from the Labor Department, which showed the number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims registered their sharpest increase in four weeks, well ahead of market expectations for a print of 219,000.

Initial jobless claims increased by 23,000 to 248,000 in the week ended 12 February, according to the Labor Department, while the four-week moving average decreased by 10,500 to 243,250 and continuing claims printed at 1.59m.

Elsewhere on the macro front, factory activity in the US mid-Atlantic region slowed a little in February, the results of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing index revealed, with the headline index slipping from a reading of 23.2 for the month before to 16.0. Economists had been anticipating a smaller decline to 22.0.

Also in data, housing starts fell 4.1% month-on-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.63m in January, well below forecasts of 1.7m for the lowest print in three months as pandemic-related labour shortages, high material costs and supply constraints persisted.

Building permits, on the other hand, rose 0.7% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.89m, the highest since May 2006 and above market expectations of 1.76m.

Ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine also continued to weigh on market sentiment after NATO officials accused Moscow of misleading the world and actually raising troop numbers at the border despite claims that it had removed a number of troops from the area.

Russia expressed caution regarding disturbances in eastern Ukraine and stated it would take its time to pull back troops from the border.

It also expelled the deputy chief of a US diplomatic mission in Moscow on Thursday.

In the corporate space, US retail giant Walmart jumped 4.01% after lifting its dividend, as it said it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter.

The company swung to a net profit of $3.6bn from a loss of $2.9bn in the same period a year ago, when it was hit by Covid-related costs.

Revenue rose 0.5% to $152.9m and adjusted earnings per share were $1.53 during the quarter, coming in $0.03 ahead of analyst expectations.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $138.88 4.01%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $55.77 2.80%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $62.11 2.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $159.82 1.15%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.58 0.34%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $221.68 -0.44%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $133.61 -0.51%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $166.19 -0.61%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $200.03 -5.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $148.64 -4.49%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $194.84 -4.37%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $124.97 -3.26%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $349.06 -3.05%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $290.73 -2.93%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $142.80 -2.52%
Boeing Co. (BA) $213.60 -2.44%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $151.43 -2.30%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $46.81 -2.23%

S&P 500 - Risers

Newmont Corporation (NEM) $67.75 5.40%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $67.35 5.00%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $138.88 4.01%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $21.89 3.89%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $230.13 3.44%
Clorox Co. (CLX) $146.01 3.35%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $37.79 3.19%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $55.77 2.80%
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) $691.61 2.68%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $55.25 2.60%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $197.02 -19.91%
LKQ Corporation (LKQ) $47.64 -14.32%
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) $57.35 -8.24%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $245.07 -7.56%
State Street Corp. (STT) $93.65 -6.61%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $39.17 -6.43%
Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) $118.45 -6.20%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $496.18 -6.05%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $52.12 -5.93%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $21.35 -5.74%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $37.79 3.19%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $55.77 2.80%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $99.08 2.10%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $66.06 0.53%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $515.01 0.51%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $56.45 0.11%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $194.92 0.00%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $0.00 0.00%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $103.14 0.00%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $182.50 0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,021.07 -9.95%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $245.07 -7.56%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $496.18 -6.05%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $71.17 -5.74%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $29.88 -5.41%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $138.22 -5.23%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $876.35 -5.09%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $366.05 -5.08%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $216.71 -5.08%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $6.57 -5.06%