By Isla Binnie
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wall Street was slightly lower on Thursday in choppy trading after mostly giving up early gains driven by strong demand from the world’s largest chipmaker, while European shares rose after the ECB left rates unchanged.
Japan’s yen wilted after scaling a six-week high, while the euro eased a fraction after ECB President Christine Lagarde held off any rate change but said an interest rate decision at the ECB’s next meeting in September was “wide open”.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 84.79 points, or 0.21%, at 41,112.74, the S&P 500 lost 22.22 points, or 0.39%, to 5,566.32.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 139.86 points, or 0.78%, to 17,856.63, giving back early gains after initially recovering from Wednesday’s session, which was its worst since December 2022 [.N] The STOXX 600 index rose 0.01%.
U.S.-listed shares of TSMC dipped after previously jumping 2.1% thanks to a raise in the Taiwan chipmaker’s full-year revenue forecast on surging demand for AI chips. A semiconductor index was up.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 3.77 points, or 0.46%, to 819.82.
Tech company earnings will be next on investors’ radars as the U.S. second-quarter earnings season picks up steam.
“Risks in the technology sector got pointed out yesterday, with continuing trade issues between the U.S. and China,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth adviser and market strategist for Murphy & Sylvest.
DATA BOOSTS DOLLAR
In the foreign exchange market, the dollar index advanced after strong U.S. manufacturing data and jobless data that did little to suggest a significant slowing in the labor market. The euro was weaker after the ECB policy statement.
The dollar index gained 0.29% to 103.97, after hovering close to its weakest level in four months. The euro was down 0.26% at $1.0909. It had touched a four-month low of 103.64 on Wednesday.
Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits increased 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 243,000 for the week ended July 13, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 230,000 claims for the latest week, although the data was not considered to be a notable shift in the labor market due to seasonal factors.
Interest rate sensitive two-year yields were last up 1.5 basis points on the day at 4.444%, but were down from around 4.455% before the weaker-than expected labor data.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 2.1 basis points to 4.167%, from 4.146% late on Wednesday.
The yen came off its highs after daily data showed little fresh evidence of intervention from authorities. It weakened 0.28% against the dollar at 156.59 per dollar.
The yen has dropped 9.5% against the dollar this year as the wide interest rate difference between the U.S. and Japan weigh, creating a lucrative trading opportunity, in which traders borrow the yen at low rates to invest in dollar-priced assets for a higher return, known as carry trade.
In commodities, gold was higher, adding 0.25% to $2,464.50 an ounce, although below the record high of $2,483.60 it touched on Wednesday. [GOL/]
U.S. crude was down 0.53% at $82.41 a barrel and Brent fell to $84.59 per barrel, down 0.58% on the day.
(Additional reporting by Karen Valetkevitch; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Susan Fenton)
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