U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling around 0.4% on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Dow traded down 0.20% to 49,392.89 while the NASDAQ fell 0.38% to 24,562.83. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.11% to 7,130.12.<\/p>\n
Leading and Lagging Sectors<\/p>\n
Utilities shares jumped by 2.1% on Thursday.<\/p>\n
In trading on Thursday, information technology stocks fell by 0.9%.<\/p>\n
Top Headline<\/p>\n
U.S. initial jobless claims climbed by 6,000 to 214,000 in the week ending April 18, compared to market estimates of 212,000.<\/p>\n
Equities Trading UP
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Equities Trading DOWN<\/p>\n
Commodities<\/p>\n
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4% to $94.22 while gold traded down 0.2% at $4,741.90.<\/p>\n
Silver traded down 2.7% to $75.89 on Thursday, while copper fell 1.2% to $6.0565.<\/p>\n
Euro zone<\/p>\n
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.8%. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2% and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.6% during the session.<\/p>\n
Asia Pacific Markets<\/p>\n
Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.75%, China’s Shanghai Composite declining 0.32%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipping 0.95% and India’s BSE Sensex dropping 1.09%.<\/p>\n
Economics<\/p>\n
Photo via Shutterstock<\/p>\n