The
U.S. stocks retreated on Thursday after
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned that the economic weakness in the euro zone would likely prevail in coming months.
The main stock indices opened lower as Draghi said that risks to the economy were on the downside, after the ECB's policy meeting Thursday, which held its key interest rate unchanged at 0. 75 percent as expected.
He also added that the exchange rate was important for growth and price stability, voicing concerns over the strength of the euro.
On the economic front, Americans applying for initial jobless claims last week decreased to a seasonally adjusted 366,000, slightly higher than economists' expectations, but lower than the previous week's revised figure of 371,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The four-week moving average, a better indicator of underlying trend in jobs market, dropped to 350,500 from the previous week's revised average of 352,750.
In the afternoon session, Wall Street rebounded modestly, trimming part of early losses.
In
corporate news, shares of Sprint Nextel edged down 0.52 percent to 5.74 U.S. dollars as the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier reported a drop in monthly contract subscribers.
Shares of Akamai Technologies plummeted 15.20 percent to 35.26 dollars though the leading cloud platform posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecast on the bottom line. The company issued cautious revenue guidance. - by PNA
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