WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving modestly higher earlier in the session,
stocks have come under pressure over the course of the trading day on Thursday.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have pulled back well off their best levels of the
day and into negative territory.

In recent trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have fallen to new lows for the
session. The Nasdaq is down 206.82 points or 1.2 percent at 17,655.41 and the
S&P 500 is down 26.77 points or 0.5 percent at 5,460.26.

The narrower Dow, on the other hand, has remained in positive territory and is
currently up 184.55 points or 0.5 percent at 39,019.41.

While the early strength on Wall Street came amid a continued advanced by shares
of Nvidia (NVDA), the subsequent downturn has also been led by a significant
pullback by the AI darling and marker leader.

Shares of Nvidia are currently tumbling by 4.2 percent after surging by as much
as 3.8 percent earlier in the trading day.

Nvidia shot up by 3.5 percent during trading on Tuesday, surpassing Microsoft
(MSFT) as the world's most valuable public company.

The downturn by the markets may also reflected profit taking after the Nasdaq
and S&P 500 reached new record highs, with the S&P 500 turning lower after
climbing above 5,500 for the first time.

Traders are also digesting the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a
Labor Department report showing a modest pullback by first-time claims for U.S.
unemployment benefits in the week ended June 15th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 238,000, a decrease
of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 243,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 235,000 from the 242,000
originally reported for the previous week.

The upwardly revised number for the previous week marked the highest level since
claims reached 248,000 in the week ended August 12, 2003.

'Initial claims fell less than we anticipated in the week ended June 15 and
point toward a moderation in growth in nonfarm payrolls in June,' said Ryan
Sweet, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, 'The risk of labor demand being too weak to prevent the unemployment
rate from rising could give some support in cutting interest rates as an
imbalance in the labor market is unlikely to be a significant factor in future
inflation.'

Meanwhile, a separate report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly
showed a steep drop in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of
May.

The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 5.5 percent to an annual
rate of 1.277 million in May after surging by 4.1 percent to a revised rate of
1.352 million in April.

Economists had expected housing starts to climb by 0.7 percent to an annual rate
of 1.370 million from the 1.360 million originally reported for the previous
month.

The report also said building permits slumped by 3.8 percent to an annual rate
of 1.386 million in May after tumbling by 3.0 percent to a rate of 1.440 million
in April.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to
increase by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.450 million.


Sector News

Semiconductor stocks have moved sharply lower amid the downturn by Nvidia,
dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.9 percent.

Considerable weakness has also emerged among computer hardware stocks, as
reflected by the 1.4 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Computer
Hardware Index.

Housing and networking stocks have also moved to the downside, while gold and
oil stocks continue to post strong gains amid increased by the prices of the
associated commodities.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a
mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up
by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved notably higher on the day. While
the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by
1.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside following the
rebound seen on Tuesday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note,
which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.9 basis points at 4.256 percent.



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