U.S. stocks sold off Thursday after a weak housing report, on a day filled with economic data that also included better-than-anticipated jobless claims and CPI that met expectations.
Within 20 minutes of the closing bell in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply by 164 points to 16,450, while the Nasdaq lost 28 points to 4,073 and the S&P 500 slid 18 points to 1,871.
The declines followed sharp losses on Wall Street Wednesday, when major indexes retreated from record closing highs reached Tuesday.
Today marked the busiest day for economic data this week, beginning with two key reports, including initial jobless claims and the consumer price index for April. Initial jobless claims for the week that ended May 10 fell by 24,000 to 297,000, far better than the 317,000 consensus estimate, according to Bloomberg.
The consumer price index rose 0.3% for April as expected, following a 0.2% increase in March. Core CPI, minus food and energy, rose 0.2%, compared to consensus estimates for a 0.1% increase.
At 9:15am ET, the Federal Reserve also issued its April industrial production and capacity utilization numbers. Industrial production in April disappointed with a notable decline of 0.6%, while capacity utilization declined to 78.6% from 79.3% in March.
Shortly after, stocks fell to session lows after the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing-market index dropped to 45 this month, with builders' confidence in the market for newly constructed, single family homes declining in May to the lowest level in a year. The Philly Fed index also came in at 15.4, above forecasts.
Asian markets finished mixed on Thursday as Japanese GDP growth surged to its fastest level in over two years in the first quarter, well topping consensus estimates. The economy was boosted by a surge in personal consumption prior to the sales tax rising to 8% from 5% on April 1. The economy is now expected to pull back, however, in the second quarter now that the tax has gone up.
In Europe, stocks finished lower, led by losses in France. Eurozone GDP growth held steady at 0.2% in the first quarter, but missed consensus of 0.4% as France returned to neutral with zero growth and Italy fell back into contraction. Eurozone inflation also rose to 0.7% on year in April from 0.5% in March, but still well below the ECB's target of just under 2%.
In corporate activity, it was a busy day for the retail sector, with a number of retailers reporting quarterly results Thursday.
Before the opening bell, Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) reported that its fiscal first quarter earnings fell 15%, on lower sales as same store sales dropped 3.4%, missing analysts' expectations for 0.2% growth. Shares were down 3.2% on Thursday.
Dow component Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) fell more than 2.3% after the retail giant offered a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter and posted another drop in U.S. sales in the latest period --- its fifth straight quarterly decline. Same store sales at U.S. locations fell 0.1%.
After the closing bell, retailers J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) are slated to report results.
Another Dow component, tech bellwether Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), reported results last night, beating estimates on both earnings and revenue while also posting better-than-expected sales guidance. The Dow tanked even as Cisco shares surged 6.2% during the session.
In other stock news, the Federal Communications Commission voted to propose new rules on net neutrality today, including one that could allow Internet service providers to start charging content companies, like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), for faster delivery. A final decision will come after the agency collects comments from the public.
Meanwhile, another development has arisen in the Pfizer-AstraZeneca drama, with the latter company unveiling data on an experimental lung cancer drug that analysts say could give the UK drug company more reason to make a case for a higher takeover bid from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE).
In commodities, gold for June delivery slid 0.9% to finish at $1,293.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. June crude stumbled 0.9% to settle at $101.50 a barrel. Reported by Proactive Investors 7 hours ago.
Within 20 minutes of the closing bell in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply by 164 points to 16,450, while the Nasdaq lost 28 points to 4,073 and the S&P 500 slid 18 points to 1,871.
The declines followed sharp losses on Wall Street Wednesday, when major indexes retreated from record closing highs reached Tuesday.
Today marked the busiest day for economic data this week, beginning with two key reports, including initial jobless claims and the consumer price index for April. Initial jobless claims for the week that ended May 10 fell by 24,000 to 297,000, far better than the 317,000 consensus estimate, according to Bloomberg.
The consumer price index rose 0.3% for April as expected, following a 0.2% increase in March. Core CPI, minus food and energy, rose 0.2%, compared to consensus estimates for a 0.1% increase.
At 9:15am ET, the Federal Reserve also issued its April industrial production and capacity utilization numbers. Industrial production in April disappointed with a notable decline of 0.6%, while capacity utilization declined to 78.6% from 79.3% in March.
Shortly after, stocks fell to session lows after the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing-market index dropped to 45 this month, with builders' confidence in the market for newly constructed, single family homes declining in May to the lowest level in a year. The Philly Fed index also came in at 15.4, above forecasts.
Asian markets finished mixed on Thursday as Japanese GDP growth surged to its fastest level in over two years in the first quarter, well topping consensus estimates. The economy was boosted by a surge in personal consumption prior to the sales tax rising to 8% from 5% on April 1. The economy is now expected to pull back, however, in the second quarter now that the tax has gone up.
In Europe, stocks finished lower, led by losses in France. Eurozone GDP growth held steady at 0.2% in the first quarter, but missed consensus of 0.4% as France returned to neutral with zero growth and Italy fell back into contraction. Eurozone inflation also rose to 0.7% on year in April from 0.5% in March, but still well below the ECB's target of just under 2%.
In corporate activity, it was a busy day for the retail sector, with a number of retailers reporting quarterly results Thursday.
Before the opening bell, Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) reported that its fiscal first quarter earnings fell 15%, on lower sales as same store sales dropped 3.4%, missing analysts' expectations for 0.2% growth. Shares were down 3.2% on Thursday.
Dow component Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) fell more than 2.3% after the retail giant offered a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter and posted another drop in U.S. sales in the latest period --- its fifth straight quarterly decline. Same store sales at U.S. locations fell 0.1%.
After the closing bell, retailers J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) are slated to report results.
Another Dow component, tech bellwether Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), reported results last night, beating estimates on both earnings and revenue while also posting better-than-expected sales guidance. The Dow tanked even as Cisco shares surged 6.2% during the session.
In other stock news, the Federal Communications Commission voted to propose new rules on net neutrality today, including one that could allow Internet service providers to start charging content companies, like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), for faster delivery. A final decision will come after the agency collects comments from the public.
Meanwhile, another development has arisen in the Pfizer-AstraZeneca drama, with the latter company unveiling data on an experimental lung cancer drug that analysts say could give the UK drug company more reason to make a case for a higher takeover bid from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE).
In commodities, gold for June delivery slid 0.9% to finish at $1,293.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. June crude stumbled 0.9% to settle at $101.50 a barrel. Reported by Proactive Investors 7 hours ago.