U.S. stocks ended lower Thursday, led by resources sector. U.S. employment and real estate market data better than expected. China's tight monetary policy to raise the prospects for investors may be worried about.
EST at 16:00 on January 20, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.49 points to close at 11,822.80 points, down 0.02%; the Nasdaq composite index fell 21.07 points to close at 2,704.29 points, down 0.77%; the S & P 500 index fell 1.66 points to close at 1,280.26 points, down 0.02%.
Natural resources in the energy sector led by the broader market, consumer goods and utilities and other defensive stocks performed relatively well plates.
U.S. stocks on Thursday, together with the global market fell after China announced strong fourth-quarter GDP growth of 9.8%, raising fears of the Chinese government may adopt more stringent monetary policy to prevent the economy from overheating. This means that China's demand for energy and raw materials will decline, raw materials and energy sector it was generally fall.
In the market worried that China may continue to tighten policy, U.S. economic data released on Thursday are mostly positive. U.S. Department of Labor announced last week in pre-initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 3.7 million to 40.4 million. The data market is expected to fall on average to 42 million.