Dow Jones falls over 100 pts in midday trade; Apple bucks market trend, rises by $2/share

DJIA Index US Stock Market Today: US equity benchmarks suffered minor losses in Thursday’s session amid cautious trade as investors tracked incoming data in the hope that the Fed will continue to lower key lending rates going forward while a post-election rally, triggered by Donald Trump’s victory in the race to the White House, faded last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell as much as 113.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 43,844.4, the S&P 500 lost 18.3 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5,967.1, and the technology stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 78.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to hit 19,151.9 on the downside. 

At 10:47 pm in India (12:17 pm in New York, USA), the DJIA index was down 130.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 43,828.1. The S&P 500 was down 19.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,966 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 55.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 19,175.2. 

US Jobless Claims Data in Focus

Official data on jobless claims in the world’s largest economy, a key indicator of economic activity tracked closely by investors and analysts globally, showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week. Initial jobless claims dropped by 4,000 to 2,17,000 for the week ended November 9, according to the US Labor Department.

Investors awaited a key US stockpiles update and Fed official Thomas Barkin’s speech, due later in the day, for cues. 

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Dow Jones Index: Top gainers & losers 

Industrial, communication services, health, consumer discretionary and material stocks faced selling pressure, though gains in select tech and consumer staple stocks lent some support to the US share market. 

As many as 18 constituents in the 30-scrip DJIA index succumbed to negative territory, with Cisco (down 2.5 per cent), Salesforce (down 2.2 per cent), IBM (down 1.8 per cent), Boeing (down 1.7 per cent) and Amgen (down 1.5 per cent) being the worst hit. 

On the other hand, Walt Disney, Chevron, 3M, Apple and Nvidia, trading between 0.8 per cent and 6.8 per cent higher, were the top gainers in the Dow basket. 

Apple shares gained by as much as $2.1, or 0.9 per cent, to $227.1 apiece, and were last trading at $226.9 apiece.

Fed Rate Cut  

This month, the Fed lowered benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points, as widely expected, citing a solid pace of economic activity and inflation continuing to move towards the American central bank’s 2 per cent target.

The Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC), the US central bank’s rate-deciding panel, decided unanimously to lower the key rates by 25 bps. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that the 2024 US presidential election, in which Republican Donald Trump won the race to the White House, would have no impact on its policy decisions in the near term.

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