US stocks close lower amid market woes

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New York,   US stocks closed lower with the Dow posing an eight-day losing streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday decreased 196.10 points, or 0.80 per cent, to 24,461.70. The S&P 500 was down 17.56 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 2,749.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 68.56 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 7,712.95, Xinhua reported.

The Dow’s losses were mainly led by the decline of Caterpillar and Intel. Shares of Caterpillar and Intel sank 2.52 per cent and 2.38 per cent, respectively, at market closing. The Dow extended losing streak to eight days, its longest since March 2017.

More than half of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors struggled during the day’s trading, with energy and industrial sectors lagging most. The Nasdaq Composite also fell, erasing earlier gains.

On the economic front, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index decreased about 15 points to a reading of 19.9 in June from 34.4 in May, lower than market estimates of 28, according to its latest report.

Meanwhile, in the week ending June 16, the initial jobless claims was 218,000, lower than the market forecast of 220,000. The reading showed a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the US Labor Department reported on Thursday.