Dow Continues To Post Steep Loss But Nasdaq Little Changed

(RTTNews) - After showing a notable move to the downside early in the session, the Dow continues to post a steep loss in afternoon trading on Thursday. The S&P 500 also remains in the red, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has bounced back near the unchanged line.

Currently, the Dow is down 327.58 points or 1.0 percent at 33,203.75 and the S&P 500 is down 17.74 points or 0.4 percent at 4,119.90. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is posting a modest gain, up 1.84 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 12,308.28.

The Dow is moving lower for the fourth consecutive session, with a steep drop by shares of Disney (DIS) weighing on the blue chip index.

Disney has plunged by 8.6 percent to a nearly two-month intraday low after the entertainment giant reported fiscal second quarter earnings and revenue roughly in line with estimates but a decrease in streaming subscribers.

Renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector are also weighing on Wall Street amid a nosedive by shares of PacWest Bancorp (PACW).

PacWest Bancorp has plummeted by 21.2 percent after the regional bank revealed in a SEC filing that deposits slumped by 9.5 percent last week.

The weakness on Wall Street may also reflect concerns about the economy following the release of a Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims climbed to their highest level in well over a year in the week ended May 6th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 264,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 242,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 245,000.

With the much bigger than expected advance, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting a matching number in the week ended October 30, 2021.

A separate Labor Department showed a continued slowdown in the annual rate of producer price growth in April, although some traders worry the slowdown is partly due to the U.S. heading for a recession.

Sector News

Oil service stocks continue to see substantial weakness on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 3.2 percent to its lowest intraday level in well over a month.

The sell-off by oil service stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil, with crude for June delivery tumbling $1.75 or $70.81 a barrel.

Considerable weakness is also visible among gold stocks, resulting in a 3.2 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

Gold stocks are moving lower along with the price of the precious metal, as gold for June delivery is falling $17.70 to $2,019.40 an ounce. Steel, oil producer and utilities stocks are also seeing notable weakness on the day, while some strength has emerged among retail stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed modestly lower on Thursday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched slightly higher. China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index eased by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back off their best levels of the day but remain in positive territory. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 5.3 basis points at 3.386 percent.