Stocks moved sharply lower at the start of trading on Thursday, extending the downward move seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages dropped firmly into negative territory, although selling pressure has waned since the open.
The initial weakness on Wall Street was partly due to lingering concerns about the outlook for the Federal Reserve's asset purchase program.
Negative sentiment was also generated by a report from Markit Economics and HSBC showing that Chinese manufacturing activity contracted in May.
Traders are also digesting a report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected drop in weekly jobless claims in the week ended May 18th.
Although the bigger than expected drop in jobless claims is a positive sign for the labor market, the data has added to concerns about the Fed scaling back stimulus.
Brokerage stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances in early trading, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index down by 2.4 percent. Nomura Holdings (NMR) has helped to lead the sector lower following a sell-off by Japanese stocks.
Commercial real estate, steel, and housing stocks are also posting notable losses, moving to the downside along with most of the major sectors.
Meanwhile, gold stocks are bucking the downtrend by the broader markets, benefiting from a significant increase by the price of the precious metal.
The major averages have not seen much follow-through on their initial downward moves but remain stuck in the red. The Dow is down 94.28 points or 0.6 percent at 15,212.39, the Nasdaq is down 30.52 points or 0.9 percent at 3,432.78 and the S&P 500 is down 14.86 points or 0.9 percent at 1,640.49.
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