Wall Street ended Thursday's session with major benchmarks in positive territory despite a more-than-expected increase in unemployment reported in the morning. Investors kept their attention steady on mega-cap tech stocks--Amazon
The Labor Department's weekly unemployment report for the week ended August 15 showed that 1.106 million Americans filed for benefits, well above consensus estimates of about 920,000. With unemployment trends stabilizing, the U.S. economic recovery many take longer than perviously expected. Congressional lawmakers are still in a stalemate over a new stimulus package, leaving the economies' outlook even more fragile. To make matters even more uncertain, the enhanced unemployment benefits of $600 per week that was meant to act as a safety net against poverty has expired, with no true replacement in site for the short-term.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
For Major Stock News, Tesla
For Sector Performance, most industries remained negative throughout Thursday's session, with only Information Technology +1.44%, Communication Services +1.37%, Real Estate +1.08%, and Consumer Discretionary +0.14% gainings. The remaining sectors declined: Energy -2.13%, Financials -0.89%, Utilities -0.89%, Industrials -0.48%, Materials -0.42%, Health Care -0.29%, Consumer Staples -0.25%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar
"The [Federal Open Market Committee] minutes reiterated the need for people to own gold, they were still concerned about the coronavirus and its impact on the economy, that shows they want to stay accommodative and help consumers stay afloat," said Michale Matousek, head trade at U.S. Global Investors, according to Reuters.
As the market heads into Friday, investors will turn their attention to U.S. existing home sales data, as well as quarterly earnings from companies Deere