LONDON: U.S. stocks finished lower Thursday, testing technical levels in a volatile trading session as media stocks suffered a big hit and investors awaited the closely watched jobs report due Friday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.69% closed down 120.72 points, or 0.7%, at 17,419.75, for its sixth-straight day of losses, its longest losing streak since October. The Dow had been down as many as 178 points earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.62% took the brunt of the beating. The index fell 83.50 points, or 1.6%, to close at 5,056.44, after being off by as many as 105 points earlier. On Thursday, the index dropped below its 50-day moving average, a support level watched by technical traders, which suggests more pain may be ahead for the tech-heavy index.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.78% dropped 16.28 points, or 0.8%, to 2,083.56, following a drop of about 24 points. Eight of the S&P 500’s main sectors closed lower, led by health care, down 2.1%; consumer discretionary, down 1.3%; and tech, down 1%. During the session, the index nearly dipped below its 200-day moving average of 2,072.56
Also, the Russell 2000 Index RUT, -1.29% on Thursday dropped below its 200-day moving average for the second time in two weeks. The index closed down 1.3% at 1,215.85.
