Thursday’s Stock Market Open: US Equities Slip As Another 1.4 Million File For Unemployment

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday on yet another grim unemployment filing report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 50.03 points to 26,955.81, while the S&P 500 slipped 4.21 points to 3,271.81 and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 33.72 points to 10,672.41.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that 1.416 million people filed initial jobless claims last week. This marks the 18th consecutive week that initial claims topped 1 million.

Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, said the data was “worse than expected and the first weekly increase since March.”

He added: “Less disappointing: Continuing claims at 16.2 million [versus] consensus expectations of 17.1 [million]. The overall message is that an economy able to recover well is stalling due to health concerns.”

On Wednesday night, Senate Republicans said they “reached a fundamental agreement” with the White House on how to proceed with another coronavirus relief bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he wants to keep the package at $1 trillion.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Republican COVID-19 relief plan will extend enhanced unemployment insurance “based on approximately 70% wage replacement.”

After Wednesday’s closing bell, Microsoft (MSFT) and Tesla (TSLA) both released quarterly earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations.

In retaliation for the U.S closing its consulate in Houston, China may shut down an American consulate in Chengdu or cut staff at its office in Hong Kong.

“We expect the rally to broaden out, and we do see upside for stocks in the second half of the year,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer of global wealth management at UBS AG in Zurich. “As large asset allocators, when we look across, there are very few alternatives to equities right now.”

Overnight in Asia markets finished mixed, as China’s Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.24%; Japan’s Nikkei-225 was closed for a holiday; and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Exchange gained 0.82%.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 rose 0.41%, while France’s CAC-40 edged up 0.05% and Germany’s DAX edged up 0.13%.

Crude oil futures fell 0.86% at $41.54 per barrel, Brent crude dropped 0.95% at $43.87. Gold futures rose 0.47%.