US stocks close with major losses amid recession fears

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks closed Thursday with major losses as investors' fears of a possible economic recession has reignited due to weak macroeconomic data

The Dow Jones plummeted almost 495 points, or 1.21%, to end the day at nearly 40,348. The S&P 500 fell 75 points, or 1.37%, to 5,446.

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, took a dive with a 405-point loss, or 2.3%, to finish the session at 17,194.

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose 14,000 last week to 249,000, the most since August 2023, according to the Labor Department data released earlier.

The US manufacturing sector, in addition, contracted in July for the fourth consecutive month, according to a report released earlier by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 46.8% in July, down 1.7 percentage points from 48.5% in June, and come in at much lower than market estimates of 48.8%.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, soared 13.6% to 18.59.

The 10-year US Treasury yield lost 3.1% to 3.997%, diving below the 4% level for the first time in six months.

The dollar index rose 0.3% to 104.41, while the euro fell 0.33% to $1.0789 against the greenback.

Precious metals were on decline, with gold losing 0.2% to $2,442 per ounce and silver decreasing 2% to $28.43.

Oil prices were down more than 1% with global benchmark Brent crude at $80.04 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $76.87.