Stocks lower for third straight day
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2013.(Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty)
Stocks were lower again Thursday following two days of losses that have investors concerned we are heading for a correction.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 77 points, or 0.5% at midday. The Dow dropped 217 points the day before. The index of 30 big-name stocks could be headed for its first three-day losing streak this year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 6 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite fell 14 points, or 0.4%.
The focus on Wall Street has now shifted from how high stocks will climb to whether the market is on track for its first drop of 5% or more since November 2012. The broad market hasn't suffered a more severe "correction," commonly defined as a drop of 10% or more, since the fall of 2011.
OUTLOOK: As stock mojo wanes, more calls for pullback[1]
Earlier in the day, stock futures had rocketed 3% for a minute or two Thursday morning just ahead of the 8:30 a.m. release of a weekly report on claims for unemployment benefits.
Just as quickly, stocks fell back as traders realized it was a false report. The Labor Department's report was released as scheduled. The government said weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell modestly the week ended May 30.
Wall Street sank Wednesday. The Dow fell 1.4% to 14,960.59. The S&P 500 declined 1.4% to close at 1,608.90. The Nasdaq composite index was off 1.3% to 3,401.48. At the close Wednesday, the S&P 500 was 3.6% lower from it's record close on May 21 — eclipsing the 3.5% drop it suffered in April.
WEDNESDAY: Dow, S&P 500 dive on rising interest rates[2]
The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.5% on Thursday even though there's still a recession in the 17 countries that use the euro. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was trading lower — down 1.1%. The major indexes in the U.K., France and Germany were all down more than 1%
Asia stock markets extended losses on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.1% to 21,838.43. Markets in South Korea were closed for a public holiday. The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo shed 0.9% to 12, 904.02.
Benchmark oil for July delivery was up $1.14 to $94.64 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose 21 cents to 1,419.
Contributing: The Associated Press