\n<\/p>\n
U.S. stocks, which fell after a slightly positive start Thursday morning, remain firmly down in negative territory around later afternoon, and look headed for another weak close.<\/p>\n
The major averages are all down in the red, with the Nasdaq once again posting a more pronounced loss.<\/p>\n
The Dow is down 181.00 points or 0.52 percent at 34,584.64. The S&P 500 is down 21.77 points or 0.5 percent at 4,382.56, while the Nasdaq is down 115.24 points or 0.86 percent at 13,359.39.<\/p>\n
The mood is bearish as the Federal Reserve’s minutes, released Wednesday afternoon, indicated the central bank is likely to hold interest rates higher for longer to contain inflation.<\/p>\n
Walgreens Boots Alliance is down 3.6 percent. Intel is declining 2.2 percent, while Boeing, Walmart, United Health, Meta Platforms and Apple Inc are down 1.4 to 1.7 percent.<\/p>\n
JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Visa and Microsoft are also down in negative territory.<\/p>\n
Walmart shares are down 1.7 percent, despite the major retailer raising its full-year guidance.<\/p>\n
Cisco Systems is rising nearly 4 percent. Chevron, Alphabet, 3M and IBM are up 1 to 1.4 percent.<\/p>\n
Caterpillar, J&J, American Express, Coca-Cola and Merck are up with modest gains.<\/p>\n
In economic news, data from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline in the week ended August 12th.<\/p>\n
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 239,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 250,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 240,000 from the 248,000 originally reported for the previous week.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 234,250, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 231,500.<\/p>\n
A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index increased to +12 in August, up from -13.5 in July.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Conference Board’s leading index declined 0.4 percent month-on-month in July.<\/p>\n
In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended weak amid mounting China worries and on hawkish Fed minutes.<\/p>\n
The major European markets<\/span> closed weak on Thursday, extending recent losses, as worries about China’s economic woes, interest rate and inflation concerns continued to weigh on sentiment. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n