US close: Stocks slip as traders digest data ahead of Fed meeting

(Sharecast News) - US stocks broadly declined on Thursday with the Nasdaq pulling back from a record high, as investors digested inflation and labour-market data ahead of the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of the year next week. Jobless claims jumped last week, while wholesale inflation figures for November came in a little stronger than expected, but that didn't alter market bets for another rate cut next week. Wednesday's consumer price index report for last month was in line with estimates, underscoring the belief that the central bank will likely lower the Fed Funds Rate by 25 basis points.

The Dow declined for the sixth day running, falling 0.5% to 43,914.12, having now dropped 2.4% since setting a record closing high of 45,014.04 on 4 December.

The S&P 500, which reached an all-time high of 6,090.27 last week, declined 0.5% to 6,051.25. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq slipped 0.7% to 19,902.84, pulling back from Wednesday's record peak of 20,034.90.

The US producer price index rose by 0.4% in November, compared with an upwardly revised 0.3% gain in October and ahead of the 0.2% increase expected by analysts. However, core inflation - which excludes food, energy and trade services - eased to 0.1% from 0.3%.

"Goods prices were the driver of the upside surprise due to a boost from food prices, which is unlikely to be sustained. Encouragingly, though, core producer prices registered the smallest monthly gain since May 2023," said Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics.

The annual rate of wholesale inflation picked up to a 21-month high of 3.0%, compared with expectations of no change from October's 2.6% level. However, the core annual rate held steady at 3.5%.

Elsewhere on the macro front, initial jobless claims unexpectedly increased by 18,000 to 242,000 last week, compared with the consensus forecast for a drop of 4,000 from the prior week's upwardly revised reading to 220,000, marking the steepest new claims count since October.

Continuing claims rose by 15,000 to 1.86m, close to November's three-year high of 1.90m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, rose by 5,750 to 224,250.

Adobe slumps

Software giant Adobe was the big mover of the day, dropping 14% after revenue guidance for its first quarter underwhelmed. The company pointed to revenues of $5.63bn-5.68bn, short of the $5.73bn expected by the market.

Warner Bros Discovery's plans to restructure were welcomed by the market, with the entertainment stock popping 15%. The company said it will segment its business into two new divisions - linear networks and streaming/studios - to "enhance strategic flexibility and create potential opportunities to unlock additional shareholder value".

Drinks companies were bubbling higher after Deutsche Bank upgraded Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper to 'buy' from 'neutral', while confectionary group Hershey was hit with a downgrade by Wells Fargo to 'underweight' from 'equal weight'.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.78 3.28% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $63.84 1.92% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $101.25 1.50% Boeing Co. (BA) $167.75 1.08% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $232.26 0.93% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $358.03 0.90% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $247.96 0.60% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $58.85 0.44% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $114.90 0.25% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $274.06 0.24%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $515.76 -3.33% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $380.78 -2.08% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $414.42 -1.65% Nike Inc. (NKE) $77.96 -1.13% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.73 -1.12% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.71 -0.96% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $94.09 -0.92% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $241.53 -0.82% American Express Co. (AXP) $300.30 -0.67% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $41.28 -0.53%

S&P 500 - Risers

CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $114.06 4.52% Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $183.95 3.93% MetLife Inc. (MET) $83.22 3.60% Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.78 3.28% Kroger Co. (KR) $63.30 3.21% Becton, Dickinson & Company (BDX) $227.17 2.77% Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $388.45 2.63% Apache Corp. (APA) $22.94 2.50% Corning Inc. (GLW) $48.61 2.06% Centene Corp. (CNC) $58.00 1.93%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $474.63 -13.69% Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $9.59 -6.89% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $65.99 -5.59% Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $8.70 -5.23% Nucor Corp. (NUE) $131.41 -5.08% CVS Health Corp (CVS) $49.58 -4.21% Kohls Corp. (KSS) $14.15 -4.20% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $740.97 -4.14% Gap Inc. (GAP) $24.18 -4.12% CIGNA Corp. (CI) $282.96 -3.76%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.78 3.28% Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $388.45 2.63% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $74.08 1.74% Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $52.92 1.57% Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $40.24 1.33% Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $13.89 1.31% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $63.90 1.16% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $90.32 1.06% Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $274.82 0.90% Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $13.06 0.85%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $474.63 -13.69% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $65.99 -5.59% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $740.97 -4.14% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $98.24 -3.74% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $75.58 -3.39% Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $184.56 -3.01% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $24.81 -2.76% PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $112.80 -2.63% Incyte Corp. (INCY) $70.83 -2.29% American Airlines Group (AAL) $17.24 -1.93%