The broader market fell on Thursday following two dismal economic reports. Investors were still digesting the Federal Open Market Committee decision to maintain a near-zero interest rate amid prolonged economic uncertainty, as the U.S. second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by the highest amount on recored and over one million new Americans filed for unemployment. Losses did not dip too far though, for shares of big tech stocks--Amazon
The United States' GDP contracted by a slightly better than expected 32.9% on a quarter-over-quarter basis, the sharpest rate ever recorded. The quarterly GDP covered the month from April to June, or the beginning of coronavirus related shutdowns and increased unemployment. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis stated: "The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the second quarter of 2020 because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified."
Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department's weekly jobless claims totaled 1.434 million for the week ended July 25. This is the nineteenth consecutive week the weekly total exceeded one million. Continuing employment claims for the week ended July 18 totaled 17.01 million, increasing from the previous week's 16 million. The unemployment increase reflects the resurgence in coronavirus infections throughout the U.S. and the reimplementation of some social restrictions.
For more of a side note, President Donald Trump introduced the idea of delaying the November 3 presidential election, tweeting: "...Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???" The tweet effected some commodities' futures and added more market uncertainty on Thursday.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
For Major Stock News, big bank stocks--Bank of America
For Sector Performance, most industries ended the day with losses, with only Information Technology +0.53%, Communication Services +0.32% and Consumer Discretionary +.0.10% advancing and Consumer Staples ending flat. The sector performance losses were as follows: Energy -4.10%, Materials -1.96%, Financials -1.84%, Industrials -0.97%, Real Estate -0.83%, Health Care -0.77% and Utilities -0.02%.
For Commodities and Currency, crude oil futures slipped amid increased demand uncertainty. West Texas Intermediate
For Friday, market participants will focus on data on personal income and consumer sentiment. Manufacturing bellwether Caterpillar