US Stocks end mixed ahead of July jobs report

The US stocks were mixed in a relatively lackluster trade on Thursday, 04 August 2022, with the Dow and the S&P500 indexes settling below the unchanged line, while the NASDAQ index managed to hold gain line.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 85.68 points, or 0.26%, to 32,726.82. The S&P500 index was down by 3.23 points, or 0.08%, to 4,151.94. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 52.42 points, or 0.41%, to 12,720.58.

Total 7 of 11 S&P500 index sectors closed higher, with consumer discretionary issue enjoyed largest percentage gain, rising 0.54%, followed by information technology (up 0.42%), while energy issue suffered the heavy losses, falling 3.6%, as crude oil prices fell on global recession worries.

The mixed finish of the Wall Street came as investors seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched July jobs report, which would give the latest snapshot on the labor market and the health of the economy.

A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims were up to 260,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 254,000.

The Commerce Department released a separate report showing the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $79.6 billion in June from a revised $84.9 billion in May, as the value of exports surged by 1.7% to $260.8 billion, while the value of imports edged down by 0.3% to $340.4 billion.

Earnings season continued, with a slew of reports released on Thursday. Eli Lilly shares fell after the company posted weaker than expected quarterly results and cut its full-year forecast. Shares of Datadog and Lucid also fell after both companies cut future outlooks.

Among Indian ADR, INFOSYS added 0.25% to $20.15, Dr Reddy's Labs added 0.67% to $52.44, Wipro added 0.18% to $5.50, Azure Power Global added 0.17% to $12, and WNS Holdings added 0.44% to $86.11. HDFC Bank fell 1.05% to $62.43, ICICI Bank declined 1.05% to $20.79, and Tata Motors fell 1.24% to $29.57.

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