Stocks decline following healthcare vote delay
U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday, 23 March 2017 with the Dow edging into negative territory to extending its losing streak to six sessions as a delay in a closely watched health-care vote raised questions about the Trump administration's ability to win passage of its ambitious legislative agenda. Trading was volatile, with major indexes at one point posting solid gains, but then turning lower ahead of the close after House Republican leaders delayed a vote to replace the Affordable Care Act.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a loss of 4.72 points at 20,656.58, posting its sixth straight negative session. The S&P 500 index fell 2.49 points to end at 2,345.96, a loss of 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 3.95 points to end at 5,817.69, a decline of less than 0.1%.
The day's losses were broad, with seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ending lower. Health care was among the biggest losers, down about 0.4%.
In economic data, first-time jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the latest week, hitting a two-month high.
Among stocks under focus, Ford Motor fell 0.9% after it gave a first-quarter earnings outlook that was below expectations. Apple fell 0.4% after a report that it had acquired Workflow, a popular mobile app for automating tasks, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.
Concerns about President Trump's ability to quickly push through pro-growth policies, promised during his presidential campaign, have helped diminish demand for assets considered risky. The next big test for markets comes with an expected late-Thursday vote on health-care reform.
The dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index has lost roughly 0.5% so far this week, but was up 0.1% on Thursday. Shakiness in the buck has provided some path for dollar-priced assets to rise, as softening in the currency makes commodities priced in greenbacks more attractive to buyers using other monetary units.
Bullion prices ended mixed at Comex on Thursday, 23 March 2017. Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, ending a run of five straight daily gains, after a sharp slump in global equities and weakness in the U.S. dollar.
U.S. stocks were confined to tighter ranges on Thursday and equities markets overseas finished mostly higher, which cut some of the aggressive demand for gold as a short-term refuge amid a risk-off market sentiment shift. The battered dollar also improved on Thursday.
April gold fell $2.50, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,247.20 an ounce. May silver rose 1.5 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $17.593 an ounce.
Crude oil prices extended their streak of losses on Thursday, 23 March 2017 as traders focused on the persistent oversupply of crude in the global market that has weighed on prices in recent years. The record in U.S. stockpiles of crude oil reported on Wednesday fed concerns over a global glut of supplies, despite expectations that U.S. demand for gasoline is set to grow in the run up to the summer driving season.
May West Texas Intermediate crude lost 34 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $47.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude fell 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $50.56 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.
In the Treasury market, U.S. sovereign debt finished flat with the benchmark 10-yr yield closing unchanged at 2.41%.
Friday's lone economic report, February Durable Orders (consensus +1.3%), will cross the wires at 8:30 ET.
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