Weak economic reports pressured U. S. stocks on Thursday after the market’s recent run of gains, and a drop in healthcare shares added to the bearish momentum.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Weak economic reports pressured U. S. stocks on Thursday after the market’s recent run of gains, and a drop in healthcare shares added to the bearish momentum.
The Commerce Department said new orders for key U. S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in December, pointing to a further slowdown in business spending on equipment that could crimp economic growth.
Separate data showed the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s gauge of U. S. Mid-Atlantic business activity declined in February to its weakest level since May 2016, while another report showed U. S. existing home sales dropped last month to the lowest level since November 2015.
“We’ve had a tremendous run in the market, and we had weak data that allowed investors to take some profits,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
Still, he said, “I was a little surprised by some of the weakness in the data. Some of it is weather related and some trade related, so it’s hard to get a good feel for how it would be,” without those factors.
