US stocks closed lower on Thursday, unable to derive upside from surging oil prices, as the European Central Bank’s action plan for the troubled Eurozone economy worried investors.
The S&P 500 market bellwether closed down 0.2% at 2,181.
The ECB surprised investors by leaving its current quantitative easing efforts without further modification. The central bank failed to extend the termination date of the programme beyond March 2017 and left rates unchanged at zero percent, as expected. Read more
The Energy Information Administration's release of weekly crude inventories showed a drawdown of 14.5mln barrels last week.
Oil prices rose sharply after the report, with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at one point scaling $47.75 per barrel – its highest level since euphoria over an informal September OPEC oil meeting led oil higher on August 30. It ended up 4% at $47.32.
A near 3% sell-off in the shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the world’s largest company, dragged on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. Investors soured on Apple as they digested the latest product announcements from the iPhone maker.
The S&P Midcap 400 closed down 0.5% at 1,574 while the S&P Smallcap 600 shed 0.3% to 763.
Midsession
US stocks were softer at midsession on Thursday as investors digested the European Central Bank's latest monetary policy decision and remarks made by its president, Mario Draghi.
Even a surge by oil prices after US inventories fell did little as investors began instead to assess the implications of a world where central banks no longer have any powerful ammo to fire up demand in the economy.
The ECB surprised investors by leaving its current quantitative easing efforts without further modification. The central bank failed to extend the termination date of the programme and left rates unchanged at zero percent, as expected.
The market bellwether S&P 500 index was down 0.3% at 2,180.
Investors also analysed economic data from the US, with weekly jobless claims coming in 4,000 lower at 259,000. Other data released Thursday included the Energy Information Administration's release of weekly crude inventories, which showed a drawdown of 14.5mln barrels last week.
Oil prices rose sharply after the report, with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate up 4.2% at $47.40 per barrel – its highest level since euphoria over an informal September OPEC oil meeting led oil higher on August 30.
The Nasdaq composite underperformed, falling about 0.3 percent as Apple slid more than 2 percent. Apple's stock fell a day after unveiling its latest iPhone model. On Thursday, the firm said it will not release pre-order numbers for the phone, saying those figures are "no longer a representative metric for our investors and consumers."
The S&P Midcap 400 was down 0.3% at 1,576 while the S&P Smallcap 600 index was down 0.3% at 763. Midcaps were led lower by Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), down 8% to $6.29 after as the tech stock initiated an equity dilution to stave off the risk of bankruptcy.
Open
US shares started on the back foot as traders around the world failed to be inspired by what the ECB had to say on monetary policy.
Mario Draghi, the president, spent no time at all discussing an extension to the QE package, which ends in six months.
The Central Bank also left interest rates on a flat 0% as had been widely expected.
The benchmark Dow Jones is down 0.33% at the time of writing to 18,464, while the Nasdaq lost 0.53% to 5,255.
The broader-based S&P500 shed 0.3% to stand at 2,179.
In Midcaps , the S&PMidcap 400 is down 0.38% to stand at 1,575, while the S&P600 SmallCap index is down 0.41% to stand at 762.35.
In Europe stock indices are broadly down expect in London, although that is near flat.
Earlier US stock futures had pointed to a lower open.
US crude is making a comeback, with a barrel of the black stuff adding 1.45% to stand at US$46.15 each.