US close: Dow kicks off September with positive finish
Wall Street stocks were mixed at the close on Thursday, with the Dow reversing its earlier losses after the major US indices wrapped up August in the red.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.46% at 31,656.42 and the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 3,966.85, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.26% to 11,785.13.
The Dow closed 145.99 points higher on Thursday, clawing back some of the losses it recorded on Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected reading on the US jobs market from consultancy ADP.
With the blue-chip Dow Jones closing the month roughly 4.1% lower, while the S&P and Nasdaq recorded losses of 4.2% and 4.6%, respectively, market participants were now looking to see if the major indices would again touch June lows in September - a historically poor month for markets - amid recent hawkish comments from central bank officials.
Oil prices were still in focus at the close, after prices for the thick black stuff earlier fell to levels not seen since before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.
The NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate was last down 0.18% at $86.45 per barrel, while Brent crude futures were unchanged at $92.36 on ICE.
Thursday's primary focus was the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report, with data revealing a higher-than-expected decrease in claims for the week ended 27 August.
The number of initial unemployment claims dipped by a seasonally-adjusted 5,000 week-on-week to reach 232,000 - the lowest level for initial claims since the week of 25 June, and easily beating the 248,000 print pencilled in by economists.
With the jobs market in mind, US-based companies announced plans to cut 20,485 jobs in August, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas - the lowest reading in the last six months.
Elsewhere on the macro front, August's S&P Global manufacturing PMI was upwardly revised to 51.5 in August from a preliminary reading of 51.3 but still pointed to the slowest growth in factory activity since July 2020.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was unchanged at 52.8 in August, beating market forecasts for a print of 52 but still pointing to low levels of factory growth not seen since June 2020.
Finally, construction spending fell 0.4% month-on-month in July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of $1.78bn, according to the Census Bureau.
That was in line with market expectations and a slight deceleration from the previous month's 0.5% drop.
In equities, Facebook owner Meta Platforms managed gains of 1.49% amid reports the company was planning to launch paid-for services on some of its platforms.
On the downside, Okta tumbled 33.7% after the identity technology firm described issues with integration in an update.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.
Dow Jones - Risers
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $165.34 2.48%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $245.50 2.16%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $87.15 2.10%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $293.37 1.72%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $256.43 1.66%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $134.52 1.46%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.29 1.27%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $139.64 1.23%
3M Co. (MMM) $125.47 1.03%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $163.25 1.03%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $153.66 -4.11%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $49.96 -2.04%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $153.53 -1.66%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $155.54 -1.59%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $182.44 -1.23%
American Express Co. (AXP) $151.11 -0.59%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.76 -0.50%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $260.40 -0.41%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $41.81 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
S&P 500 - Risers
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $26.70 7.75%
Cooper Cos Inc. (COO) $300.12 4.41%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $600.63 3.37%
Dover Corp. (DOV) $129.06 3.28%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $46.63 3.10%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $290.20 3.00%
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $138.45 2.97%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $38.42 2.92%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $230.04 2.90%
Target Corp. (TGT) $164.83 2.81%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.37 -7.67%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $46.98 -6.56%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $110.61 -5.53%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $28.09 -5.10%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $40.96 -4.19%
Boeing Co. (BA) $153.66 -4.11%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $256.96 -4.11%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $96.71 -3.96%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $28.94 -3.95%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $332.49 -3.91%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $600.63 3.37%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $290.20 3.00%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $230.04 2.90%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $17.81 2.65%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $88.51 2.60%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $64.95 2.33%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $103.50 2.28%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $199.79 2.26%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $245.50 2.16%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $36.90 1.96%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.37 -7.67%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $469.92 -4.09%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $332.49 -3.91%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $2.98 -3.87%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $13.08 -2.53%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $91.81 -2.40%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $59.18 -2.33%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $170.04 -2.15%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $20.86 -2.11%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $161.09 -2.11%