Stocks ended Thursday's session in negative territory as major tech shares continued to drive the broader market lower and caution took hold of investor sentiment following the Federal Reserve's updated monetary policy decision. The ongoing tech sell-off pushed the Nasdaq to its worst day in 5 session, with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) all declining at least 10% in September.
Meanwhile, mixed messages about a pending coronavirus vaccine and slow economic recovery have soured sentiment due to increased uncertainty. Late Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. will be able to distribute a vaccine to the public as early as October, which contradicted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield's earlier statement that vaccines will likely be available in 2021.
Moreover, the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 12 totaled a more-than-expected 860,000. Yet encouragingly, continuing unemployment claims fell below 13 million to a less-than-expected 12.628 million, showing slow progress, but nonetheless progress towards job market recovery.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.84% or -28.48 points to 3,357.01
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.47% or -130.40 points to 27,901.98
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -1.27% or -140.19 points to 10,910.28
For Major Stock News, Ford (NYSE: F) announced that it will differentiate its upcoming all-electric F-150 pickup from Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) by offering heavy-duty hauling and towing rather than recreation perks. Furniture giant Herman Miller (NASDAQ: MLHR) soared Thursday as the company reinstated its dividend following its better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ: PLAY) may declare bankruptcy is an agreement is not reached with lenders.
For Sector Performance, most industries fell during Thursday's lackluster session, with only Materials +0.76%, Industrials +0.23% and Energy +0.21% rising above the broader market trend. Those that ended the session with negative performance were as follows: Real Estate -2.19%, Communication Services -1.83%, Consumer Discretionary -1.59%, Financials -1.00%, Information Technology -0.84%, Utilities -0.82%, Consumer Staples -0.65% and Health Care -0.31%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) fell flat on Thursday following the central bank's new monetary policy statement, with investors fearing that long-term low rates and inflation will harm any strength gained by the greenback. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices also fell under the new monetary policy, with investors raising concerns that low-interest rates and inflation will bring less momentum for the yellow metal. Spot gold fell 0.8% to $1,943.87 per ounce, while futures settled down 1.1% at $1,949.90 per ounce. Crude oil futures rose, extending Wednesday's momentum as OPEC+ said its would crack down on countries that fail to comply with output cuts. The oil producer group also announced that they will hold an extraordinary meeting in October with oil market weakness continued. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) increased 2.3% to $43.21 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) climbed 2% to settle at $40.97 per barrel.
For Friday, investors will turn their attention to fresh data on consumer sentiment.