Dow Drops Over 100 Points; US Weekly Jobless Claims Rise To 232,000

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping over 100 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.44% to 32,763.39 while the NASDAQ fell 0.10% to 12,922.99. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.08% to 4,176.37.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Materials shares rose by 0.6% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included IperionX Limited IPX, up 3%, and Perimeter Solutions, SA PRM, up 4%.
• In trading on Thursday, real estate shares dipped 0.6%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 2,000 from the prior week to 232,000 in the week ending May 27, compared to market expectations of 235,000.

Equities Trading UP

• U Power Limited UCAR shares shot up 59% to $4.93 after the company announced it entered into a framework strategic cooperation agreement with Quantum Solutions Co in Japan.
• Shares of QuantaSing Group Limited QSG got a boost, shooting 40% to $12.03 after the company reported third-quarter financial results and issued guidance.
• Chewy, Inc. CHWY shares were also up, gaining 22% to $36.12 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in first-quarter EPS results and better-than-expected sales results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• DZS Inc. DZSI shares dropped 33% to $4.01 after the company announced it will restate its previously issued financial statements for the first quarter and lowered FY23 revenue guidance.
• Shares of C3.ai, Inc. AI were down 23% to $30.82 despite reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
• Okta, Inc. OKTA was down, falling 21% to $72.21 despite the company reporting better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raising guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $67.79 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,983.70.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $23.595 on Thursday while copper rose 1.1% to $3.6780.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.8% The German DAX gained 0.7% French CAC 40 rose 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.2%.

The consumer price inflation rate in the Eurozone dropped to 6.1% in May from 7.0% in the prior month, while unemployment rate fell to 6.5% in April, the lowest rate on record. The HCOB Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 44.8 in May versus a preliminary reading of 44.6.

The S&P Global France manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 45.7 in May from a preliminary reading of 46.1, while German manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 43.2 in May from a preliminary level of 42.9.

The HCOB Spain manufacturing PMI declined to 48.4 in May from 49 a month ago. Consumer credit in the UK rose by £1.586 billion in April, while Nationwide House Price Index in the UK fell by 3.4% year-over-year in May.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.84%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declining 0.10% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.01%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%.

Retail sales in Hong Kong climbed 13.3% year-over-year in April. The S&P Global Indian manufacturing PMI rose to 58.7 in May from 57.2 in the previous month. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI increased to 50.9 in May from prior month’s reading of 49.5.

Retail sales in Australia came in unchanged at AUD 35.3 billion during April. The au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.6 in May versus flash reading of 50.8.

Economics

• The ADP said private businesses in the U.S. added 278,000 jobs in May versus a revised 291,000 gain in April and compared to market estimates of 170,000.
• U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 2,000 from the prior week to 232,000 in the week ending May 27, compared to market expectations of 235,000.
• Nonfarm business sector labor productivity fell by 2.1% in the first quarter compared to the preliminary estimate of a 2.7% decline.
• Unit labor costs in the U.S. nonfarm business sector increased an annualized 4.2% in the first quarter.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 107,119,070 cases with around 1,165,440 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,990,870 cases and 531,870 deaths, while France reported over 40,086,590 COVID-19 cases with 167,310 deaths. In total, there were at least 689,709,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,885,220 deaths.