Wall Street fell during Thursday's session due to more grim economic data. The U.S. Department of Labor's weekly jobless claims report added another 3.84 million Americans to the unemployed list, bringing the six-week total to more then 30 million. In addition, consumer spending for the month of March dropped 7.5% on a year-to-year basis as the coronavirus kept most people indoors. However, all three major benchmarks ended April with monthly gains. The S&P 500 rose +12.68%, Dow Jones up +11% and the Nasdaq soared +15.45%, posting the best market monthly gain in 33 years.
Here's how the market close on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.92% or -27.08 points to 2,912.43
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -1.17% or -288.14 points to 24,345.72
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.28% or -25.16 points to 8,889.55
In Major Stock News, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) lead the Nasdaq for much of Thursday's session as the tech companies reported quarterly earnings beats amid coronavirus pandemic concerns. Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) both fell following earnings miss. Bank stocks--JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C)--took a hit with the broader market. Abiomed (NASDAQ: ABMD) shares climbed after the medical supply company announced new acquisition with its quarterly earnings. The company is acquiring Breethe, which makes an oxygenation system, for an undisclosed amount.
In Stock Sector News, sectors reversed course from Wednesday's session and mostly performed lower on Thursday. The two sectors that posted positive performance gains were Consumer Discretionary +0.39% and Communication Services +0.02%. The rest that feel into negative territory include Material -2.96%, Financials -2.68%, Utilities -2.38%, Energy -2.24%, Industrials -2.04%, Consumer Staples -1.13%, Real Estate -0.67%, Information Technology -0.46% and Health Care -0.44%.
In Commodity and Currency News, U.S. crude rallied on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) increasing +26.16% to close at $19 per barrel. Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) also increased +12.11% to close at $25.27 per barrel. Gold (NYSE: GLD) fell on Thursday, with the metal's price decreasing by -26% and below the $1,700 threshold. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) continues to trade down at -0.54%.
As the market moves into Friday, investors are likely to focus on more news surrounding Gilead Sciences's (NASDAQ: GILD) potential coronavirus treatment as well as earnings from oil giants Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and pandemic favorite Clorox (NYSE: CLX).