(New York) - In U.S. stock market activity today, mixed economic reports gave way to mixed trading on Wall Street. While wages were on the incline, jobless claims fell.
A flurry of economic data on Thursday influenced U.S. stock market activity today. Improvements in the labor market was accompanied by more inflation stabilization. These are both major indexes revealing the health of the U.S. economy.
The Federal Reserve will use the aforementioned data to implement normalized interest rates. In U.S. stock market activity today, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.94% dipped 15 points, the equivalent of 0.7% at 2,092.22. All 10 key sectors traded lower on the S&P index with tech stocks and utilities taking the biggest hits. The DJIA or the Dow Jones Industrial Average, -0.91% was down by 123 points, the equivalent of 0.7% to 17,914.82.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.55% was down 50 points, just 1% at 4,973.75, while benchmark indexes were mixed.
Crude-oil prices CLM5, +1.50% moved up slightly while metals took a dive, Marketwatch reported.The dollar was down 0.36% and traded mixed versus other key currencies. In Asian markets, stocks closed mostly lower.
"The market has gone pretty far in a pretty short period of time," said CEO of Astor Investment Management in Chicago, Robert Stein, "With some uncertainty ahead on economic data and Fed action, investors are taking profits."
Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto told Yahoo news, "This morning's reports all point to an economy that is doing a lot better than the near-stagnation in first-quarter GDP suggests."
A report by Yahoo.com said the U.S. economy is picking up steam after a lackluster performance in the first quarter.
