S&P 500 Ends Down After Jobless Claims Hit 18-Month Low

The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 35,000 to a seasonally adjusted 310,000 for the week ended Sept. 4, the lowest level since mid-March 2020. That suggested that job growth could be hindered by labor shortages rather than cooling demand for workers.

Microsoft, Apple and Amazon each declined, all three among the stocks weighing most on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 real estate and healthcare indexes were among the poorest performers of 11 sectors, while financials and materials made modest gains.

JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citi Group and Morgan Stanley each rose, tracking a slight rise in benchmark bond yields following the claims data.

“The problem with the market these days is it’s rotating more than it’s moving. Today, because of the jobs claims report, everyone is buying cyclical stocks,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive of Infrastructure Capital Management in New York. “We see it as a rangebound market, between 4,400 and 4,600 (on the S&P 500).”

Investors have become more worried in recent sessions after a recent monthly jobs report showed a slowdown in U.S. hiring, suggesting the economic recovery may be losing steam faster than expected. Also dragging on sentiment has been uncertainty about when the U.S. Federal Reserve’s will scale back massive measures enacted last year to shield the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 147.25 points, or 0.42%, to 34,883.82, the S&P 500 lost 20.44 points, or 0.45%, to 4,493.63 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 38.17 points, or 0.25%, to 15,248.46.

Lululemon Athletica soared after providing a strong annual forecast, as demand for its yoga pants remains strong despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Reports that Beijing slowed down approval for all new online video games sent shares of U.S.-listed gaming stocks Activision Blizzard Inc, Electronic Art Inc, and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc down more than 1%.

Digital Realty slid after the data center REIT announced a public offering of 6.25 million shares.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Additional reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Arun Koyyur and Aurora Ellis)