Wall Street closes in the red weighed by health care
Major US equity indices closed the day with losses with the exception of Nasdaq, which was buoyed by Apple as its stock set a new record at $141.02.
S&P 500 Health Care (Sector) slipped 1% as Trump's first budget outline, signaling towards a security-heavy readjustment of federal spending, forced investors to cash-in gains from one of the best performing sectors so far this year. "Throwing billions at defense while ransacking America’s investments in jobs, education, clean energy, and lifesaving medical research will leave our nation weakened," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
Forex today: FOMC hangover session, dollar consolidates losses
Furthermore, crude oil's recent rally came to a stop on Thursday as WTI dropped to $48.50. Although comments from Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia helped WTI limit its losses, it finished the day at $48.76 down 0.20%. S&P 500 Energy Sector fell 0.58%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 15.55 points, or 0.07%, to 20,934.55, the S&P 500 dropped 3.88 points, or 0.16%, to 2,381.38 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.71 points, or 0.01%, to 5,900.76.
Headlines from the US session:
- WTI testing $49 barrier amid Al-Falih comments
- Al-Falih: Oil cuts may be extended if necessary
- ECB's Praet: Underlying inflation pressures continue to remain subdued
- Bank of England: A hawkish twist- Danske Bank
- The ECB could also raise the deposit rate earlier than the prime rate - Nowotny