Stocks closed lower Thursday on mounting evidence that global growth is slowing.
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The S&P fell 6.53 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,932.23.
The dollar was mostly down against other basket currencies on the Wind dollar index, which was 0.11 per cent lower at US$96.2419.
The Nasdaq composite fell 18.27 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4,734.48. The tech-heavy index had been down as many as 83 points earlier in the session.
He’s watching to see if the S&P 500 can hold 1,900 and indicate a bottom. The Stoxx Europe 600 shed 2.1 per cent. Germany’s DAX declined 1.9 per cent and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.9 per cent.
US shares pulled back from their deepest intraday declines.
Shanghai shares trimmed a chunk of early gains and were up only 0.3 percent as of 0511 GMT, reflecting how investor confidence in the economy remains wobbly at best, while South Korea’s Kospi nudged up 0.2 percent. While VW’s stock closed flat on the day, fellow German carmaker BMW fell 5.2 percent after a report said one of its models had failed a test in Europe.
The US Department of Labor said initial jobless claims, a measure of the number of first-time unemployment filings, came in at 267,000 for the week ended September 19.
Asian shares were largely lower on Thursday after more dour economic news in China and the United States piled pressure on riskier assets. New orders for durable goods fell 2 per cent in August from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
“I don’t think there’s going to be much ahead of that”, said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group.
Although shares in Volkswagen rose 5.2 percent on Wednesday, they had lost about a third of its value in the previous two sessions.
In commodities trading, benchmark US crude rose 43 cents to $44.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures gained 2 per cent to $US1,153.80 a troy ounce.
Shares in Japan fell sharply as trading resumed after a three-day holiday. Shares jumped 8% post-market.
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In the currency market, the euro was helped by comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that the bank needed more time to decide on whether further stimulus is required.
