U.S. stock markets posted a sharp decline on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day at 49,452 points, a drop of 1.3% from the previous session.
The Nasdaq 100 ended lower still, trading at 24,688 points, down 2.0%, while the broader S&P 500 capped the day at 6,833 points, a decline of 1.6%.
Thursday’s release of initial unemployment benefit claims revealed 227,000 filings-slightly above the 222,000 forecasted.
Chief market analyst Andreas Lipkow of CMC Markets said the data “continues the downward trend in the U.S. labor market”.
He added that there is still no room for speculation about interest‑rate cuts; only if further economic slowdown signs appear would that topic become urgent. Regarding U.S. home sales, Lipkow noted a modest rebound in flexibility: sales in January were slightly weaker than economists had expected.
The euro weakened a touch by Thursday evening. One euro traded at $1.1870, and one U.S. dollar was priced at €0.8425.
Gold fell sharply that same afternoon, with a fine ounce trading at $4,918, a decline of 3.3%, equivalent to €133.21 per gram.
Oil also slid markedly. Around 10 p.m. German time, a North Sea Brent barrel fetched $67.60, $1.80-or 2.6%-lower than the previous day’s close.
