US stocks finished lower on Thursday after falling late in the trading session – putting an end to a six-day rally. A stronger dollar weighed on commodity-linked shares and a guarded outlook from Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) led to worries about the strength of consumer spending.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94 points to 10,197. The S&P500 Index lost 11 points to 1,087 and the NASDAQ dropped 18 points to 2,149.
In the latest economic news: The Labor Department said that 502,000 people filled for jobless claims last week, which is the lowest level since January 3 of this year.
Meanwhile President Barrack Obama announced that he’ll hold a jobs forum at the White House in December, as the country faces a 10.2% unemployment rate.
The Treasury Department said the federal deficit hit $176.4 billion in October.
In company news: Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) shares are up slightly by 0.51% to $53.24. The world’s biggest retailer announced better than expected third-quarter earnings of 84 cents per share on sales of $98.7 billion. However Wal-Mart also forecast that earnings for the festive season could be lower.
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) shares gained 21.8% to $6.48, after it agreed with Intel (NYSE:INTC) to end all legal arguments between the two companies, including antitrust litigation and patent disputes. As part of the deal, Intel will pay Advanced Micro Devices $1.25 billion as part of the settlement.
3Com (NASDAQ:COMS) shares jumped 31.11% to $7.46, as the market reacted to Wednesday’s news that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) will buy the network equipment maker for $2.7 billion. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard shares fell 0.6% to $49.70.
In the NASDAQ Top 100: Seagate Technology was the best performer, adding 3.07% to $16.80, Followed by Urban Outfitters and Wynn Resorts. The worst performer was Joy Global its down 4.15% to $54.79. First Solar and JB Hunt Transport Services also closed fell overnight.
