US close: Markets end lower as traders react to Fed minutes
Wall Street trading finished below the waterline on Thursday, as investors continued to digest the latest set of meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve.
Dow Jones I.A.
37,775.38
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
17,394.31
12:15 18/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.27% lower at 25,379.45, while the S&P 500 lost 1.44% to 2,768.78 and the Nasdaq 100 slid 2.23% to 7,116.09.
On Wednesday, minutes from the Fed's 25-26 September policy meeting showed that members of the rate-setting committee were broadly in agreement about the need to lift borrowing costs.
A number of the committee's members expressed support for raising the base rate above a neutral level to keep inflation in check.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said the minutes caused further unrest as they reaffirmed the widely held opinion at the central bank that interest rates have further to rise including another hike this year.
"Why this came as such a surprise is something of a mystery as the minutes didn't appear to deviate from the message after the meeting when the central bank raised interest rates and removed the reference to policy being accommodative."
On the data front, US jobless claims dipped last week, holding near their record lows.
According to the Department of Labor, initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 13 October fell by 5,000 to 210,000, slightly ahead of consensus estimates for a reading of 211,000.
At the same time, the four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out the variations in the data from one week to the next, increased by 2,000 to hit 211,750.
Elsewhere, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region deteriorated less than expected in October, according to a survey released by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve on Thursday.
The index for current manufacturing activity in the region fell to 22.2 from 22.9, beating expectations for a bigger drop to 20.0.
Nearly 36% of the manufacturers surveyed reported increases in overall activity this month, while 14% reported decreases.
The new orders index fell two points to 19.3, while the current shipments index rose five points to 24.5. The prices paid index, meanwhile, slipped one point to 38.2.
In corporate news, shares of biopharmaceutical group Endocyte rocketed 50.39% by the close as it agreed to be bought by Swiss drug maker Novartis for $2.1bn.
Philip Morris International gained 3.50% after it posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, while Travelers Companies slipped 1.30% after the release of its third-quarter numbers.
Bank of New York Mellon was off 2.77% after it revealed a slowdown in third-quarter sales growth.
Dow Jones - Risers
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $54.66 1.28%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $72.21 0.54%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.85 0.43%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $117.49 0.15%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $139.50 0.03%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $166.81 0.02%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $266.81 -0.18%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $96.17 -0.40%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $76.58 -0.52%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.61 -0.55%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $135.80 -3.92%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $130.55 -2.61%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $180.44 -2.55%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $216.02 -2.34%
Visa Inc. (V) $139.32 -2.22%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.97 -2.00%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $108.50 -2.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $80.24 -1.98%
Boeing Co. (BA) $359.50 -1.68%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $58.58 -1.66%
S&P 500 - Risers
Genuine Parts Co. (GPC) $100.82 5.97%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $38.85 5.86%
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) $223.08 5.51%
Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) $87.52 3.50%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $17.54 2.87%
AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $729.34 2.14%
Macy's Inc. (M) $32.41 1.79%
Progressive Corp. (PGR) $71.80 1.66%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $162.22 1.64%
General Electric Co. (GE) $12.38 1.56%
S&P 500 - Fallers
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $118.13 -15.04%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $57.49 -11.25%
Snap On Inc. (SNA) $151.47 -9.61%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $32.35 -8.30%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $71.81 -8.29%
Newell Brands Inc (NWL) $16.61 -6.42%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $25.56 -5.79%
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $55.98 -4.96%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $346.71 -4.93%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $23.30 -4.78%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $338.45 1.10%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $96.15 0.40%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $55.83 0.13%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $228.58 0.04%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $202.72 -0.02%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $45.81 -0.04%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $45.43 -0.07%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $34.40 -0.12%
CA Inc. (CA) $43.90 -0.18%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $52.54 -0.21%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $71.81 -8.29%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $32.76 -6.27%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $130.43 -4.97%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $346.71 -4.93%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $298.76 -4.66%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $176.44 -4.63%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $32.06 -4.50%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $191.88 -4.40%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $211.98 -4.09%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $126.87 -3.93%