The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday as crude prices surged on a spike in Middle East tensions, while semiconductor stocks slumped. Of the major US stock indexes, the Nasdaq closed with the steepest percentage loss, two days after the tech-heavy index reached a record closing high. Chipmakers were clear underperformers on the day following reports that said OpenAI’s annualized revenues were $20 billion less than the company previously signaled. Besides, benchmark US Treasury yields inched higher, hovering near multi-year highs, while yields on 2-year notes, which tend to reflect Fed rate expectations, moved up more decisively. Meanwhile, investors turned their attention to third-quarter results, with major financial companies including JPMorgan Chase due to report next week.
On the economic data front, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by 2,000 to 197,000 in the week ending October 3, 2026, coming in below market expectations of 200,000 and marking the lowest initial claim count since the 60-year low of 189,000 in mid-July. Continuing claims, a gauge of ongoing unemployment in the US, rose by 17,000 to 1,716,000, remaining relatively close to the more-than-three-year low touched in the previous week. Moreover, US wholesale inventories rose 0.5% month-on-month to $964.2 billion in August 2026, below the 0.7% in the advance estimate and following a upwardly revised 1.4% increase in July.
Nasdaq fell by 345.35 points or 1.25 percent to 27,193.34 and S&P 500 was down by 36.41 points or 0.47 percent to 7,765.36, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 51.77 points or 0.10 percent to 51,231.64.
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