General Electric and Intel led the pack of Dow decliners
U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, 06 July 2017. The major averages were bearish from the jump on Thursday, quickly turning their opening losses into sizable declines within the first few minutes of action. However, the bears reclaimed control in the afternoon, sending the benchmark index, and its peers, to a fresh session low. A round of economic data, including readings on private-sector payrolls and weekly layoffs, did little to soothe worries about the expected muted pace of the Federal Reserve's policy plans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 158.13 points, or 0.7%, to close at 21,320. The S&P 500 dropped 22.79 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 2,409.75 with all 11 sectors ending in negative territory. Telecoms and real-estate shares led the declines. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 61.39 points, or 1%, to close at 6,089.46.
General Electric and Intel led the pack of Dow decliners.
Minutes from the ECB released Thursday indicated that it discussed abandoning a vow to accelerate its QE program and worried about expressing confidence in the eurozone economy.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index which gauges the buck against a basket of six rival currencies, was off 0.5%, with the slide in greenback underpinned by strengthening in the euro up 0.6% against the dollar. The euro represents the biggest component in the dollar gauge. A weaker dollar tends to make commodities priced in the currency more attractive to buyers using other monetary units.
On the data front, a read on private-sector jobs and weekly layoffs came in slightly weaker than expected, but likely not weak enough to change the pace of interest-rate increases. Private-sector employers added a seasonally-adjusted 153,000 jobs during the month, below the 180,000 that a consensus of economists had forecast. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims in the period running from June 25 to July 1 increased 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 248,000, while the Institute for Supply Management's nonmanufacturing index rose to 57.4% in June from 56.9% in May.
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Bullion prices ended higher at Comex on Thursday, 06 July 2017 at Comex. Gold prices ended higher on Thursday for a second straight session, as the dollar slumped and global equities took a turn lower amid signals that an era of easy-money policies adopted by central banks during the financial crisis may be nearing an end. Thursday's action in metals appeared to be largely driven by the jitters around the more hawkish stance from global central banks, which were sending yields higher, and driving weakness in the dollar.
August gold rose $1.60, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,223.30 an ounce, after settling higher on Wednesday. September silver also added 8.7 cents, or 0.6%, to $15.983 an ounce.
Crude oil prices finished modestly higher on Thursday, 06 July 2017, a day after their worst loss in a month, as U.S. government data revealed that domestic supplies of crude registered their largest fall in five weeks. The Energy Information Administration data, however, also showed a rise in total U.S. crude production, on the heels of a fall the previous weekprompting oil prices to pare much of the day's earlier gains and to settle off the session's best levels.
August West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 39 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $45.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, well below the session's high of $46.53. On Wednesday, the contract settled $1.94, or 4.1%, lower, posting its first loss in nine sessions and its biggest dollar and percentage drop since 7 June 2017.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration report released Thursday showed that domestic crude supplies dropped by 6.3 million barrels for the week ended 30 June 2017. Supply data were released a day late because of Tuesday's Independence Day holiday. The decreasethe largest since the 6.4 million-barrel drop reported by the EIA for the week ended May 26topped forecasts for a decline of 1.6 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles also fell by 3.7 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles decreased by 1.9 million barrels last week. Market had forecast a fall of 1 million barrels for gasoline, but expected a rise of 500,000 barrels for distillates, including heating oil.
On Friday, investors will receive the Employment Situation Report for June, which the consensus expects will show the addition of 173,000 nonfarm payrolls. The report will be released at 8:30 ET.
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