U.S. stocks on Thursday morning slumped, a day after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting showed the central bank was preparing to pull back on its stimulus measures this year as worries rise over the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, 0.46% was off 154 points, or 0.5%, at 34,805, the S&P 500 index SPX, 0.54% was down 0.5% at 4,379, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, 0.88% was trading 0.5% lower at around 14,460. The Dow and S&P 500 were on track to notch their third straight decline, which would mark the blue-chip index’s longest string of losses since June 18 and the longest period of declines for the S&P 500 since July 19. In corporate news, Shares of Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD, -3.71% were in focus after the online broker’s cautious outlook on the third quarter. See: Robinhood earnings show a company reliant on quieting retail traders and volatile crypto pricing. In economic news, the Philadelphia Fed said its manufacturing index fell to 19.4 in August from 21.9 a month earlier, while a reading of first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to 348,000, a pandemic low. Economists had expected 365,000 initial claims.