After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory, pulling back further off the intraday highs set during the previous session.
Lingering concerns about the looming fiscal cliff have contributed to the weakness on Wall Street, with recent comments from lawmakers suggesting that negotiations have not led to much progress.
The worries about the fiscal cliff have overshadowed some upbeat economic data, including a report from the Labor Department showing that weekly jobless claims pulled back near a four-year low.
Gold stocks are seeing substantial weakness in mid-afternoon trading, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.2 percent. The losses by gold stocks come amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal.
Significant weakness has also emerged among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. A decrease by the price of crude oil is contributing to the weakness in the sector.
Biotechnology, natural gas, and computer hardware stocks have also shown notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the major sectors.
The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, lingering near their worst levels of the day. The Dow is down 67.31 points or 0.5 percent at 13,178.14, the Nasdaq is down 22.89 points or 0.8 percent at 2,990.92 and the S&P 500 is down 9.62 points or 0.7 percent at 1,418.86.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.