NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global equity indexes were mostly lower on Thursday, reversing earlier gains, with the S&P 500 dragged down by losses in Apple and Amazon.com, while a drop in oil prices weighed on energy shares.
Oil prices fell following a streak of strong gains after both OPEC and the International Energy Agency said renewed lockdowns and the emergence of new coronavirus variants reduced the prospect of a swift demand recovery. U.S. crude slid 44 cents to settle at $58.24 a barrel.
The S&P 500 energy sector was down more than 2%, adding to the day’s weakness.
U.S.-listed shares of cannabis companies reversed premarket gains to drop sharply after the sector caught the attention of Reddit-inspired retail investors this week. Tilray was last down more than 45%.
Investors continued to digest a dovish Federal Reserve outlook. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reassured investors on Wednesday that interest rates will remain low for some time to spur the economy and jobs growth, but provided no new insights on monetary policy.
“As long as the economic news is difficult the Fed is going to continue to act, which will prop up the stock market,” said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115.2 points, or 0.37%, to 31,322.6, the S&P 500 lost 9.34 points, or 0.24%, to 3,900.54 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.75 points, or 0.09%, to 13,959.78.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.46% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.01%.
In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin hit another record of $48,481.45, as it continues its march toward the $50,000 mark. It was last up 6.3% at $47,685.
The dollar slipped in quiet trading, weighed down by slightly weaker-than-expected U.S. jobless claims data that followed tepid inflation numbers and the dovish message from the Fed the previous session.
The dollar index fell 0.003%, with the euro up 0.09% to $1.2127.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields held below recent highs. Investors continued to absorb disappointing inflation data from the previous day.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 2/32 in price to yield 1.1582%, from 1.152% late on Wednesday.
Spot gold dropped 1.1% to $1,821.81 an ounce.
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