U.S. markets ended lower on Thursday, weighed down by surging crude oil prices amid concerns over a prolonged conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Sentiment remained subdued following a Commerce Department report showing a sharp increase in U.S. wholesale inventories in July. The report said wholesale inventories shot up by 1.3% in July after climbing by 0.4% in June. The jump in inventories was unchanged from the initial estimate and in line with expectations. The sharp increase in wholesale inventories came as inventories of non-durable goods surged by 1.6%, while inventories of durable goods leapt by 1.1%.
On the sectoral front, gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 3% nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. Substantial weakness also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.7% plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Computer hardware stocks also showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index down by 2.3%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 316.56 points or 0.60 percent to 52,064.1, S&P 500 decreased by 44.66 points or 0.58 percent to 7,591.7 and Nasdaq dropped by 171.61 points or 0.65 percent to 26,081.72.
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