Jobless claims ticked up, as rising oil prices due to Middle East tensions and port strikes have raised new inflation concerns
The Dow Jones dropped over 250 points on Thursday afternoon following the release of the latest jobless claims data, which showed a slight uptick. In addition to the labor data, persistent tensions in the Middle East and an ongoing port strike have fueled fears of inflationary pressures.
According to data released by the Labor Department, seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims rose to 225,000 for the week ending September 28, up from a revised figure of 219,000 the previous week. The increase slightly exceeded the expectations of economists, who had forecasted 222,000 claims.
This report will be followed by the U.S. employment report on Friday, which includes key metrics such as the unemployment rate and changes in hourly wages, which will help gauge the overall health of the labor market.
In the afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 262 points, or 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq $NDAQ slipped 0.2%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.3%. Oil prices continued to rise as West Texas Intermediate and Brent surged nearly 4.6% and 4.5%, respectively, in afternoon trading. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield rose slightly to 3.8%.
Despite the decline across major indexes, AI stocks surged on Thursday. Nvidia $NVDA (NVDA), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD $AMD), Micron $MU Technology (MU), and Palantir $PLTR Technologies (PLTR) were among the top-performing stocks.
Meanwhile, healthcare stocks like Universal Health $UHS Services (UHS) and Humana $HUM (HUM) were among the weaker performers on Thursday.
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