Negative sentiment was also dampened in reaction to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing an unexpected rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended February 12th.
At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 622.24 points, or 1.78%, to 34,312.03. The S&P500 index was down 94.75 points, or 2.12%, to 4,380.26. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 407.38 points, or 2.88%, to 13,716.72.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE exchange by 2492 to 888 and 110 closed unchanged. In the NASDAQ, 1006 issues advanced, 3707 issues declined, and 212 issues unchanged.
Total 9 of 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes declined, with bottom performing issues were information technology (down 3.06%), communication services (down 2.96%), consumer discretionary (down 2.57%), and financials (down 2.41%).
ECONOMIC NEWS: US Weekly Jobless Claims Rise For First Time In Three Weeks- US weekly jobless claims rose to 248,000 in the week ended February 12th, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's revised level of 225,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average dipped to 243,250, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week's revised average of 253,750. The report showed continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 26,000 to 1.593 million in the week ended February 5th.
US Housing Starts Tumble 4.1% In January- US housing starts tumbled by 4.1% to an annual rate of 1.638 million in January after inching up by 0.3% to a revised rate of 1.708 million in December, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. The much bigger than expected decrease came after housing starts reached their highest annual rate since last March in December. Single-family housing starts led the way lower, plunging by 5.6% to a rate of 1.116 million, while multi-family starts slid by 0.8% to a rate of 522,000. Meanwhile, the report said building permits climbed by 0.7% to an annual rate of 1.899 million in January after spiking by 9.8% to a revised rate of 1.885 million in December. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to plummet by 6% to a rate of 1.760 million from the 1.873 million originally reported for the previous month.
Philly Fed Index Signals Slower Growth In February- The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current activity slid to 16.0 in February from 23.2 in January, although a positive reading still indicates growth in regional manufacturing activity, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday. The bigger than expected decrease by the headline index came as the new orders index fell to 14.2 in February from 17.9 in January, and the shipments index tumbled to 13.4 from 20.8. On the other hand, the number of employees index climbed to 32.3 in February from 26.1 in January, indicating a faster rate of job growth. Looking ahead, the Philly Fed said firms responding to its Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey continue to anticipate growth over the next six months. The report showed the diffusion index for future general activity edged down to 28.1 in February from 28.7 in January.
Among Indian ADR, Tata Motors fell 0.45% to $33.05, INFOSYS sank 1.8% to $22.43, Wipro fell 1.21% to $7.36, HDFC Bank shed 2.31% to $65.96, ICICI Bank shed 2.23% to $19.72, and WNS Holdings sank 1.54% to $85.13. Dr Reddys Labs sank 1.09% to $56.13, and Azure Power Global dropped 3.28% to $16.21.
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