President Trump on looking into whether Chinese companies should follow accounting rules if they want to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
U.S. equity markets slid Thursday after initial jobless claims showed nearly 3 million more Americans lost work last week.
Continue Reading Below
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 238 points, or 1.03 percent, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.01 percent and 0.85 percent, respectively.
Initial jobless claims for the week ended May 9 totaled 2.98 million, according to the Labor Department. While lower than the previous week’s total of 3.84 million, the new filings brought the total number of Americans who have lost work over eight weeks of stay-at-home measures to 36.5 million, the highest since the Great Depression.
A gradual rollback of the measures continued Thursday, with California allowing 17 counties to reopen malls, dine-in restaurants and schools, with modifications. Elsewhere, Georgia said summer day camps that meet certain criteria may operate.
TRUMP EYES CRACKDOWN OF NYSE-LISTED CHINESE COMPANIES
Looking at stocks, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings lost $1.9 billion, or an adjusted 99 cents a share, as business was brought to a standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cruise line said it has enough cash to withstand 18 months of voyage suspensions.
Dow component Cisco Systems reported earnings and revenue that outpaced Wall Street estimates, boosted by demand for work-from home tools.
Fellow Dow member 3M said sales fell 11 percent year-over-year in April as only its health care business saw gains.
Meanwhile, Tyson Foods will slash prices on some beef products it sells to restaurants and supermarkets by up to 30 percent for the rest of the week, helping cattle producers work through a backlog of supply.
Starbucks has asked a number of landlords for a year of rent relief for corporate-owned stores due to disruptions caused by COVID-19, the Seattle Times reported.
General Electric shares remained under pressure after falling to a 29-year low Wednesday amid concerns over the long-term health of the airline industry. The conglomerate is one of the largest manufactures of jet engines and components.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 3.6 percent to $26.20 a barrel, and gold edged up 0.42 percent to $1,723 an ounce.
U.S. Treasurys rallied, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down by 3.9 basis points to 0.612 percent.
European markets were lower across the board, with Britain’s FTSE dropping 3.25 percent, France’s CAC off 2.64 percent and Germany’s DAX sliding 2.61 percent.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.74 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.45 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.96 percent.
