Stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields climbed higher, which led to another investor dump of technology stocks. All three major benchmarks slipped lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperforming, as market participants looked for direction amid worse-than-expected jobless claims and the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield jumped 11 basis points to 1.74% for the first time since January 2020 on Thursday, with investors reacting to the Fed's willingness to allow some inflation in the next few years.
Meanwhile, weekly unemployment claims unexpectedly jumped last week to 770,000, according to the Labor Department, despite more easing of social restrictions and recent warmer weather. The previous week's jobless claims were also upwardly revised to 725,000 from the 712,000 first reported. Continuing unemployment claims continued to decline for the ninth straight week, but totaled a less-than-expected 4.124 million.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
For Stocks, bank stocks benefited from rising bond rates, with big banks--Bank of America
For Sector Performance, almost every sector fell lower on Thursday, with only Financials
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar
For Friday, market participants will continue to digest the Federal Reserve's updated monetary policy as no now economic data is scheduled to be released.