US open: Stocks sharply lower as investors digest data
Wall Street stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday as market participants digested a number of data points that seemed to stoke a fear of rate hikes.
As of 1515 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.16% at 33,732.71, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.14% to 4,100.25 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.13% weaker at 11,933.66.
The Dow opened 395.34 points lower on Thursday, easily reversing gains recorded in the previous session following a stronger-than-expected January retail sales report.
Market participants were focussed on a number of key macro points early on Thursday, with most hoping to gain further insight into the state of the US economy.
First up, Americans unexpectedly filed unemployment claims at a decelerated rate in the week ended 11 February and remained near a nine-month low. Initial jobless claims dropped to 194,000, according to the Department of Labor, down from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 195,000 and below market expectations for a print of 200,000.
On another note, wholesale prices in the US rose more quickly than expected at the start of 2023. According to the Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices increased at a month-on-month pace of 0.7% - faster than the consensus forecast for a rise of 0.4%.
Still on data, manufacturing sector activity in the US mid-Atlantic region worsened in February, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory sector index falling from a reading of -8.9 in January to -24.3 for February.
Finally, homebuilding activity in the States slowed in January. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, housing starts dropped at a month-on-month pace of 4.5% to reach an annual rate of 1.3m, while on annual basis, housing starts were off by 21.4%.
Elsewhere, Federal Reserve bankers Loretta Mester, James Bullard and Lisa Cook will all delivers speeches throughout the course of the day.
In the corporate space, Hyatt Hotels reported a fourth-quarter net income of $294.0m after reporting a loss at the same time a year earlier, Crocs posted earnings that came in $0.40 ahead of estimates, Hasbro missed quarterly earnings per share estimates by just $0.01, and WeWork fell $0.16 short of EPS estimates despite seeing revenue top expectations.
Still to come, Dropbox, DoorDash and Hasbro will all report earnings on Thursday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $51.38 6.04%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $489.58 -0.34%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $319.45 -0.39%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $167.96 -0.62%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $142.71 -0.75%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $154.10 -0.79%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $158.07 -0.82%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $183.65 -0.84%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $36.17 -0.96%
Dow Jones - Fallers
3M Co. (MMM) $111.22 -3.11%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $58.53 -2.07%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $264.52 -1.78%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $136.72 -1.61%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $236.26 -1.59%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $107.53 -1.57%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $245.11 -1.44%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $168.65 -1.43%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.82 -1.40%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $125.71 -1.39%
S&P 500 - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $51.38 6.04%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $27.21 4.37%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $60.40 3.46%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $87.93 3.43%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $51.30 3.39%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $280.45 2.81%
Republic Services Inc. (RSG) $128.43 2.08%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $133.43 1.78%
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $251.86 1.46%
Unum Group (UNM) $42.88 1.10%
S&P 500 - Fallers
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $23.54 -6.59%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $83.54 -5.75%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $186.30 -4.68%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $362.98 -4.35%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $81.89 -3.86%
Svb Financial Group (SIVB) $306.12 -3.36%
Amer Water Works (AWK) $144.45 -3.22%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $34.69 -3.18%
Transdigm Group Inc. (TDG) $743.96 -3.15%
3M Co. (MMM) $111.22 -3.11%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $51.38 6.04%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $54.12 3.61%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $60.40 3.46%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $87.54 1.35%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $214.64 0.19%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $0.00 0.00%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $0.00 0.00%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $103.90 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $0.00 0.00%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $0.00 0.00%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $83.54 -5.75%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $362.98 -4.35%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $35.50 -2.98%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $175.61 -2.76%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $124.10 -2.73%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $197.02 -2.59%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $223.53 -2.51%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $222.18 -2.40%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $330.65 -2.29%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $239.20 -2.28%