Stocks ended Thursday's session in negative territory as major tech shares continued to drive the broader market lower and caution took hold of investor sentiment following the Federal Reserve's updated monetary policy decision. The ongoing tech sell-off pushed the Nasdaq to its worst day in 5 session, with Amazon
Meanwhile, mixed messages about a pending coronavirus vaccine and slow economic recovery have soured sentiment due to increased uncertainty. Late Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. will be able to distribute a vaccine to the public as early as October, which contradicted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield's earlier statement that vaccines will likely be available in 2021.
Moreover, the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 12 totaled a more-than-expected 860,000. Yet encouragingly, continuing unemployment claims fell below 13 million to a less-than-expected 12.628 million, showing slow progress, but nonetheless progress towards job market recovery.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
For Major Stock News, Ford
For Sector Performance, most industries fell during Thursday's lackluster session, with only Materials +0.76%, Industrials +0.23% and Energy +0.21% rising above the broader market trend. Those that ended the session with negative performance were as follows: Real Estate -2.19%, Communication Services -1.83%, Consumer Discretionary -1.59%, Financials -1.00%, Information Technology -0.84%, Utilities -0.82%, Consumer Staples -0.65% and Health Care -0.31%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar
For Friday, investors will turn their attention to fresh data on consumer sentiment.