US close: Markets lower as consumer prices climb further

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Wall Street stocks closed weaker on Thursday, as investors monitored news that ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine had stalled and digested some key inflation data.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.34% at 33,174.07, as the S&P 500 lost 0.43% to 4,259.52 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.95% weaker at 13,129.96.

The Dow closed 112.18 points lower on Thursday, taking a bit out of gains recorded in the previous session as commodity prices eased back during the session.

Thursday's moves came as oil markets continued to exude volatility amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

West Texas Intermediate was last down 0.91% at $107.71 per barrel on ICE, and Brent crude was 0.12% lower at $111.01, after prices rose earlier in the day.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said no progress was made in talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on achieving a 24-hour ceasefire, after talks in Turkey.

On the macro front, the cost of living in the US increased as expected last month despite a surge in energy prices.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the consumer price index jumped at a month-on-month pace of 0.8%, pushing the annual rate of increase four tenths of a percentage point higher to 7.9%.

Core CPI, meanwhile, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by 0.5% on the month and 6.4% year-on-year.

Elsewhere, the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims jumped 11,000 to 227,000 in the week ended 5 March, up from an upwardly revised print of 216,000 in the previous week and ahead of market expectations for a reading of 217,000.

According to the Labor Department, the four-week moving average printed at 231,250, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average, while the previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 230,500 to 230,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1% for the week ended 26 February, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised reading.

In the corporate space, Amazon shares were up 5.41% after the online retail behemoth announced a 20-for-1 stock split and a $10.0bn buyback, while CrowdStrike rallied 12.5% after posting earnings overnight.

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $170.82 2.74%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $142.63 2.27%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $60.63 1.39%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $491.44 1.21%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $211.79 0.96%
American Express Co. (AXP) $169.60 0.56%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $171.89 0.30%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.23 0.28%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $317.94 0.23%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $169.66 0.18%