Stocks slipped lower Thursday as Wall Street closed out its worst month of the year in the negative. All three major market averages sank throughout the session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading losses with a drop of over 545 points.
For the month, the S&P 500 finished down more than 4% for its worst month since March 2020, which the coronavirus pandemic sparked a broad market sell-off. The Nasdaq and Dow also fell over 4% and 5%, respectively, with both averages posting their worst months in 2021.
"September lived up to its reputation and dented stock portfolio returns, but not too badly," said Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research, quoted by CNBC. "There has been a lot of concern that higher wages, higher energy prices, and higher transportation costs will weigh on earnings for the remainder of this year and into 2022."
Here's how the market settled Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -1.19% or -51.92 points to 4,307.54
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -1.59% or -546.80 points to 33,843.92
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.44% or -63.86 points to 14,448.58
U.S. GDP upwardly revised for the second quarter:
U.S. economic output was upwardly revised for the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis' (BEA) third revision on U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) published Thursday.
U.S. GDP increased at a 6.7% annualized pace during the period between April and June, according to the BEA's latest report, compared to the 6.6% rate previously reported. The rise tracked a similar upward revision in personal consumption, which rose 12.0% in the second quarter, compared to the 11.9% rate previously estimated. Personal consumption comprises about two-thirds of U.S. domestic economic activity.
"Upward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and private inventory investment were partly offset by an upward revision to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP," the BEA said in its report.
Jobless claims unexpectedly rise for third consecutive week:
Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose for a third consecutive week last week, showing signs of some slowing in labor market recovery even as companies across industries are suffering labor shortages.
New unemployment claims totaled 362,000 for the week ended Sept. 25, according the Labor Department's latest report publish Thursday. That total was above the 330,000 consensus economists had expected, and increased from the previous week's unrevised report of 351,000.
Moveover, continuing jobless claims also came in at a higher-than-expected rate, totaling 2.802 million for the week ended Sept. 18, which was above the 2.790 million expected but below the prior week's revised total of 2.820 million.
Here's how market benchmarks started trading soon after opening bell:
S&P 500 Index: +0.46% or +20.09 points to 4,379.55
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.46% or +159.03 points to 34,549.75
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.55% or +74.79 points to 14,592.83