Stocks fell on Thursday after another dismal round of U.S. unemployment data, but gains in bank shares helped Wall Street keep the session’s losses in check.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from heavy losses in the morning, and forged a gain of 34.9 points to 23,282.87
The S&P 500 shed 4.43 points to 2,815.23.
The NASDAQ slumped 48.88 points to 8,814.29. Both S&P and NASDAQ were on track for their third consecutive negative sessions.
Raytheon Technologies and Walgreens Boots Alliance fell 3% each to lead the Dow lower on Thursday.
Real estate and industrials dropped more than 1%, making them the biggest laggards in the S&P 500. However, bank shares such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase gained more than 1% each, offsetting some of the losses elsewhere in the market. Wells Fargo climbed 6%.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday a total of 2.981 million Americans filed unemployment insurance during the week ending May 9. The number came in worse than expectations of 2.7 million new claims, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury grew, lowering yields to 0.61% from Wednesday’s 0.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.07 to $26.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $26.80 to $1,743.20 U.S. an ounce.
Stocks Rebound from Earlier Losses