Fabrice Cabaud
U.S. stocks rose from session lows on Thursday but were on track to extend their losses from the previous session, after the latest economic data release added to concerns about the state of the economy. economic.
By late afternoon, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP.IND) yes fall 0.78% to 10,871.90 points. The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) slip 0.59% up 3,905.85 points, while the blue-chip Dow (DJI) to be less than 0.54% to 33,115.69 points.
Of the 11 S&P sectors, eight are in the red, led by the Industrial and Consumer sectors. Energy, Media Services and Healthcare were the three gainers.
The S&P and Dow were on track for a third straight session in the red, while Nasdaq braced for a two-day losing streak. The drop came after a positive start to the new year in the first two weeks.
“Yesterday saw the biggest risk-off move to date in 2023, with equities plunging and government bonds rallying after the latest US data raising concerns. recession and raises the possibility that the Fed will not raise rates as aggressively as expected,” said the bank’s Deutsche Jim Reid.
Weak industrial production data was one of the factors affecting stocks on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Philly Fed Business Outlook came in at -8.9 for January, better than -13.7 in the previous reading. Economists had predicted the number -11.
“With industrial production falling in six of the past eight months, with the largest being November and December, it’s clear that the manufacturing sector has been in recession,” Wells Fargo said. “To the extent that there’s good news in this, companies are playing it smart and not overproducing.”
Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing weekly unemployment claim unexpectedly dropped to 190K from the consensus figure of 214K. Claims continue to top predictions, with the figure rising to 1,647M from 1,660M predicted.
“We think jobless claims will go down, but not to this extent. Another drop next week is a reasonable bet and we’re based on seasonal factors that suggest. Jobless claims will remain below 200,000 for most of the first quarter, but this is no solid proof that the labor market is defying the apparent slowdown in activity in the data. other,” Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a note.
Thursday’s economic calendar also includes the release of housing start data, down 1.4% in December, down to an annual rate of 1.382M. This is higher than the 1.359 million rate that economists had predicted. Meanwhile, building permits fell 1.6% on the month.
Rates rose one day after a sharp drop. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note (US10Y) 2 basis points higher to 3.40% and a 2-year yield (US2Y) rose 4 basis points to 4.12%.
Among active stocks, Alcoa (AA) fell with it second consecutive quarterly loss.
Northern Faith (NTRS) was the biggest loser on the S&P 500 (SP500) afterward missed post on income. America (CMA) was the top S&P percentage gainer after Estimated beat results.
