Investing.com - U.S. shares traded lower Thursday, as disappointing service industry data weighed on equities as investors await the NFP jobs report Friday.
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.47%, the S&P 500 fell 0.77%, while the Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.16%.
Depressing stocks, ECB Chief Mario Draghi stated that policymakers did not discuss an interest-rate cut at their monthly meeting earlier, when the bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1%, in a widely expected decision.
Draghi also refrained from pledging more liquidity boosting measures, saying that the bank’s long-term financing operations needed time to work
The comments came after an auction of Spanish government debt which met with solid investor demand but saw the country’s short-term borrowing costs rise sharply.
Spain sold the full targeted amount of EUR2.5 billion of government bonds in its first debt sale since being downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, but the yield on the country’s five-year bonds rose to 4.96% from 3.69%, while the yield on three-year bonds climbed to 4.03% from 2.61%.
Meanwhile, supporting the equities, official data indicated that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last week fell by the most since May 2011.
The Department of Labor reported the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 28 fell by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000, beating expectations for a decline to 380,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 392,000 from 388,000.
However, dampening sentiment, a separate report from the Institute of Supply Management showed that service sector activity in the U.S. slowed to the lowest level in six months in April.
The ISM reported its non-manufacturing purchasing managers index declined by 2.5 points to 53.5 in April from a reading of 56.0 in March.
9 out of 10 sectors dropped during the session with commodity and banks leading the plunge.
Alcoa gave back 1.3% and Bank of America dropped 2.7% on the day.
Green mountain plunged 49%, its biggest decline ever, on increased completion from Starbucks and expiring K cup patents in September.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 closed down 0.14%, France's CAC 40 traded higher by 0.09% and Germany’s DAX dropped 0.24%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 gained 0.15%.
Traders are anxiously awaiting U.S. nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate, as well as the Canadian Ivey PMI numbers Friday.
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.47%, the S&P 500 fell 0.77%, while the Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.16%.
Depressing stocks, ECB Chief Mario Draghi stated that policymakers did not discuss an interest-rate cut at their monthly meeting earlier, when the bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1%, in a widely expected decision.
Draghi also refrained from pledging more liquidity boosting measures, saying that the bank’s long-term financing operations needed time to work
The comments came after an auction of Spanish government debt which met with solid investor demand but saw the country’s short-term borrowing costs rise sharply.
Spain sold the full targeted amount of EUR2.5 billion of government bonds in its first debt sale since being downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, but the yield on the country’s five-year bonds rose to 4.96% from 3.69%, while the yield on three-year bonds climbed to 4.03% from 2.61%.
Meanwhile, supporting the equities, official data indicated that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last week fell by the most since May 2011.
The Department of Labor reported the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 28 fell by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000, beating expectations for a decline to 380,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 392,000 from 388,000.
However, dampening sentiment, a separate report from the Institute of Supply Management showed that service sector activity in the U.S. slowed to the lowest level in six months in April.
The ISM reported its non-manufacturing purchasing managers index declined by 2.5 points to 53.5 in April from a reading of 56.0 in March.
9 out of 10 sectors dropped during the session with commodity and banks leading the plunge.
Alcoa gave back 1.3% and Bank of America dropped 2.7% on the day.
Green mountain plunged 49%, its biggest decline ever, on increased completion from Starbucks and expiring K cup patents in September.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 closed down 0.14%, France's CAC 40 traded higher by 0.09% and Germany’s DAX dropped 0.24%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 gained 0.15%.
Traders are anxiously awaiting U.S. nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate, as well as the Canadian Ivey PMI numbers Friday.