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US stocks end lower after oil came off July highs in profit-taking bout

Published: 16:44 09 Jun 2016 EDT

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US shares ended lower on Thursday, breaking a three-day rally, after oil reversed direction from July highs secured the previous session after investors took profits on crude oil futures as the US dollar gained.

Underwhelming US weekly jobless claims added to the market malaise and the bellwether S&P 500 ended down 0.2%  at 2,115.

The S&P Midcap 400 was down 0.3% at 1,520 while the S&P Smallcap 600 ended down 0.5% at 722.

The wider small-cap Russell 2000 came off 0.7% at 1,181.

The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate ended down 1.5% at $50.45 on Thursday.

But there were some nuggets of gains too.

Jaguar Animal’s (NASDAQ:JAGX)) shares closed up 76% at $2.33 and became the top scorer on the Nasdaq risers board after the company said it had entered into a $15mln stock purchase agreement with investor Aspire Capital Fund, LLC.


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US stocks killed off a three-day rally and slumped at the open on Thursday while European shares lagged, oil fell and traders fretted about the world's biggest economy after underwhelming US weekly jobless claims data.

The latest data showing claims for state aid among jobseekers reinforced the dismal non-farm payrolls data last Friday. Moreover, the prospect of a Fed rate hike in June is now zero while that for a July has halved since the payrolls numbers and stands at around 18% chance.

Banking stocks were bruised by the lack of a rate hike, while utilities which are rate-hike sensitive were higher as a sector on Thursday.

The bearish sentiment was not aided by more disappointing data out of China overnight as inflation grew less that had been expected.

The market bellwether S&P 500 was down 0.5% at 2,109 and led south by NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG).

The S&P Midcap 400 was down 0.6% at 1,516 and led by Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc (NYSE:RH) and Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR).

Meanwhile, the S&P Smallcap 600 was 0.9% lower at 720 and led by Home Bancshares Inc (NYSE:HOMB).

Oil prices were also lower, having been a huge part of the bourse rally this week. The WTI was down 1.44% at $50.49 as a strong dollar sparked profit-taking in crude futures by investors.

Continuous threats by militants against Nigeria's oil industry and fear of more security incidents that could hit supplies worldwide, however, curbed losses in crude.

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