Stocks fell after a choppy session on Thursday, continuing the weeks-long sell-off that has brought the S&P 500 on the brink of a bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 200 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite sunk 0.6% and 0.3% lower, respectively.
Uncertainty around the Federal Reserve's more aggressive moves to combat inflation--which many investors fear could spark a period of stagflation or possibly a recession--has pulled market benchmarks lower for the past several weeks. The S&P 500 is now nearing bear market territory, with the index down about 19% from it's all-time high reach on January 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 14% from its high from January, while the Nasdaq Composite has plunged deeper into a bear market, sitting about 28% below its high from last November.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Spirit urges board to reject JetBlue takeover:
Spirit Airlines'
Spirit's board said in a statement that JetBlue's offer "is NOT in the best interests of Spirit and its shareholders."
"Spirit believes JetBlue's proposals and offer are a cynical attempt to disrupt Spirit's merger with Frontier, which JetBlue views as a competitive threat," Spirit added.
Existing home sales decline in April:
Sales of previously owned homes fell in April to the lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic as rising mortgage rates continue to squeeze more potential buyers from the market.
Existing homes sales declined 2.4% month-over-month in April to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.61 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors' report published Thursday. Year-over-year, sales fell by 5.9%, marking the slowest rate since June 2020.
"Higher home prices and sharply higher mortgage rates have reduced buyer activity," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, in a press statement. "It looks like more declines are imminent in the upcoming months, and we'll likely return to the pre-pandemic home sales activity after the remarkable surge over the past two years."
Jobless claims rise slightly higher, still remain low:
New unemployment claims rose slightly last week, but held at a low level as the labor market remained tight in early May.
Initial jobless claims totaled 218,000 for the week ended May 14, according to the Labor Department's latest report published Thursday, increasing from the previous week's print by 21,000. While consensus economists had expected claims to total 200,000 last week, claims still remain near a multi-decade low.
Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims totaled 1.317 million for the week ended May 7, falling from the prior week's print by 25,000. That total was the lowest level for this data since December 1969.
Here's how benchmarks started trading soon after market open:
S&P 500 Index: -0.36% or -14.27 points to 3,909.41
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.63% or -313.94 points to 32,340.65
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.20% or +27.67 points to 11,445.83
