Stocks were mostly lower on Thursday as investors tried to calculate the Federal Reserve's next moves amid two more red-hot inflation reports this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 100 points, while the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.13% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.06%.
All major averages closed Thursday's session on track for another week of losses.
Thursday's moves build on a sharp losing streak for Wall Street as investors fear persistent inflation levels will prompt the central bank to raise interest rates more aggressively, threatening economic growth and possibly triggering a recession. On Wednesday, April's Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed the month's inflation rate held near a 40-year high.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Producer prices remained elevated in April:
Wholesale prices accelerated further in April, signaling higher consumer prices may continue for longer than previously forecasted.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.5% on the month and 11% from a year ago, according to the report published Thursday, a slight decrease from March's record 11.5% increase.
Excluding more volatile food and energy prices, core-PPI rose 0.4% on the month and 8.8% from a year ago, with the latter a decline from March's 7.1% print.
Jobless claims hold near pre-pandemic levels:
First-time jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the latest weekly data but held near pre-pandemic lows as the U.S. labor market remained tight.
Jobless claims totaled 203,000 for the week ended May 7, according to the Labor Department's latest report published Thursday. Last week's print was above the 192,000 expected by consensus economists and the previous week's upwardly revised level of 202,000.
"It's probably unrealistic to expect it to fall much below 200,000," Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, said in a note, quoted by Yahoo!Finance. "Broadly speaking, the job market is still a source of strength in an economy riddled with worries about inflation, higher interest rates and more."
Continuous jobless claims totaled 1.343 million for the week ended April 30, decreasing from the prior week's print of 1.387 million.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index: -0.81% or -31.73 points to 3,903.45
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.53% or -168.41 points to 31,665.70
Nasdaq Composite Index: -1.20% or -136.71 points to 11,227.52
