IMO:CC - Rebound Attempt Fails Stocks Down Thursday
U.S. stocks dropped in choppy trading on Thursday as investors mulled over several economic reports that showed a muddy picture of the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials sailed lower 173.27 points to finish Thursday to 30,961.82
The S&P 500 sank 44.66 points, or 1.1%, to 3,901.35.
The NASDAQ Composite subtracted 167.32 points, or 1.4%, to 11,606.53.
Shares of Adobe weighed on the NASDAQ and S&P 500. The software stock fell more than 16% after the company announced a $20-billion deal to buy Figma. The weakness spread to other tech stocks, with Apple falling 1.9% and Salesforce sliding 3.4%.
Bank stocks were a bright spot, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan rising more than 1% apiece. UnitedHealth Group rose 2.6%.
Wall Street is still trying to find its footing after a surprise increase in August's consumer price index report sparked a decline of more than 1,200 points for the Dow on Tuesday. A minor rebound on Wednesday was wiped out by Thursday's declines.
On Thursday, initial jobless claims came in better than expected, but import prices saw a smaller drop than estimates suggested. Retail sales beat expectations, but turned negative when excluding autos.
Manufacturing data also showed a slowing economy. While those reports suggest that the U.S. consumer sector is holding its ground for now, they will do little to alleviate concerns about persistent inflation.
Treasury prices faltered, raising yields to 3.45% from Wednesday's 3.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices swooned $3.30 to $85.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $35.80 to $1,679.40 U.S. an ounce.