4:05 pm: US equities close a mixed session
US stocks ended a mixed session as investors digested better-than-expected August retail sales and the latest weekly jobless claims report.
August retail sales surprised the market and rose 0.7% from the month prior, the Census Bureau reported. Economists expected a 0.8% month-over-month decline.
Meanwhile, the latest unemployment insurance weekly data showed 332,000 first-time jobless claims last week, higher than expectations for 320,000 initial claims.
On the day, the DJIA fell by 63 points, or 0.18%, to 34,751, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.16% to 4,473.
But the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.13% to 15,181
1:15pm: Stocks fall as investors parse data
US stocks declined as investors weighed the latest US economic data on retail sales and jobless claims.
The rebound in retail sales in August was not enough to prop up the market during the afternoon session. Declines wiped out much of the previous day’s bounce and put Wall Street on pace for another down day in a lackluster September. Investors are also concerned about how the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 could dampen economic growth.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, or about 200 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.5%.
11.05am: Proactive North America headlines:
Playgon says betting turnover exceeded $1.4M in August, with the momentum continuing
Cloud DX (TSX-V:CDX, OTCQB:CDXFF) and Prizm Media to provide patients with direct access to remote patient monitoring
Adastra strikes share purchase agreement for acquisition of Phyto Extractions
Vuzix teams up with Verizon to deliver BlueJeans optimized for 5G edge computing to customers
PlantX Life rebrands its brick-and-mortar stores as ‘XMarket’
Zoglo's Incredible Food to list products with leading North American retail co-operative
CleanSpark working with Partnership Gwinnett as it announces $145 million investment into the Georgia county
Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) says its CoSara JV received regulatory clearance in India for Saragene dengue and chikungunya tests
Benchmark Metals releases project update for flagship Lawyers Gold-Silver property
Marble Financial announces license deal with CreditBook for its subsidiary Inverite Verification
Goldseek Resources identifies four gold zones at Beschefer project in Quebec
Altiplano obtains Exploitation Permit at Maria Luisa
Thunderbird Entertainment gets to work on new home renovation show Gut Job, set to premiere in 2022
Phunware wins contract to give Arizona-based Yavapai Regional Medical Center a new digital front door mobile application portfolio
Esports Entertainment partners with retired NFL players association to become official esports partner
Snowline Gold encounters visible gold in Jupiter drill core, completes electromagnetic survey at URSA
SpotLite360 IOT Solutions inks deal with Sewald Hanfling for supply chain business development strategies
AMC Entertainment to take Ethereum and Litecoin payments as well as Bitcoin
Delta 9 achieves milestone in agreement with Element Cannabis Group
Golden Minerals starts new 35 hole RC drill program at Rodeo mine; reports more assays from ongoing diamond drill
Endexx tests new shareholder communications platform in EDXC LIVE
LexaGene pens cooperative research and development agreement with the US Army
TraceSafe receives International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 certification
Plurilock Security wins US$394,000 order from the California State Teachers' Retirement System
9.40am: US indices open mixed
US benchmarks opened mixed on Thursday as traders mulled over latest US economic data, including retail sales, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing survey and weekly jobless claims .
The Dow Jones added over 52 points to 34,867 but the S&P 500 declined four points 4,476. The Nasdaq exchange fell 65 points to 15,438.
Retail sales increased by 0.7% in August, posting a surprise gain despite concerns about the Delta variant and supply chain issues. A separate Labor Department report showed that weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 for the week ended September 11.
"Today's data from the US has done little to clear things up, with both retail sales and the Philly Fed manufacturing index smashing expectations while jobless claims popped a little but only just exceeded forecasts," Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA said.
"Retail sales have been volatile for a number of months but an August increase of 0.7% was the reverse of the decline that was expected.
"US futures got a small lift on the back of the data while the dollar continued to rally as US yields drifted higher once more. Gold, which has been through a rough patch over the last 48 hours, didn't fare well with the data and continued to trend lower on the day," he added.
7.10am: Wall Street set for lower start
US stock futures point to a lower open in New York on Thursday, weighed down by weaker Chinese markets, as investors await latest US retail sales and weekly jobless claims data..
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 24 points; the S&P 500 is behind by six points and the tech heavy Nasdaq is down almost 33 points.
On Wednesday, US benchmarks finished higher, brushing off weaker-than-expected China retail sales data, as the West Texas Intermediate crude oil price powered up more than 3% on sliding inventories. The DJIA climbed 236 points to 34,813, while the S&P 500 rose 38 points at 4,481 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 124 points, or 0.8%, to 15,162.
“While US equity futures have declined fractionally since the close, the overnight performance would ordinarily have pointed to the likelihood of a positive day ahead in Asia,” said Emily Nicol, economist at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe.
“However, many of the major bourses have been weighed down by significant weakness in Chinese markets, with the Hang Seng down almost 2% today, taking its loss so far this week alone to over 6% and the index to its lowest level since November.
“Today’s decline reflects a continuation of the worries that have weighed in recent days. Stock in troubled developer China Evergrande slumped further after one its units was forced to temporarily suspend bond trading following a downgrade of its credit rating by a local rating agency. Meanwhile, the likes of Tencent Holdings also fell for a fourth day amidst reports that Chinese regulators are seeking to slow down video game releases to allow time for whether they meet the new stricter rules on content, amongst other things aimed at preventing addiction,” she added.
Five more things to watch for on Thursday:
US retail sales for August are scheduled for release at 8:30am Eastern Time. Economists predict retail sales are likely to have fallen another 0.7% after an unexpected 1.1% plunge the month before.
Weekly jobless claims in the US are expected to show a modest uptick to 323,000 from 310,000, with some risk of a bigger rebound due to Hurricane Ida.
Following Wednesday’s NY Empire State Manufacturing Index release, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing survey will cast further light on the factory sector.
Beyond Meat's shares fell 2.4% in premarket trading after Piper Sandler downgraded the company to an underweight rating, saying in a note to clients that the plant-based meat company's current all-channel retail momentum lags consensus expectations.
Ion Geophysical Corp (NYSE:IO) disclosed that it has started a review of strategic alternatives to “strengthen its financial position and maximize stakeholder value.” Its shares jumped 52.3% to $2.29 in the pre-market trading session.