Stocks finished lower Thursday as Wall Street went from a two-day rally to a two-day slump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 347 points, or 1.15%, to 29,926, while the S&P 500 lost 1.03% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.68%.
Stocks had ticked briefly higher late Wednesday before ending the session in the red and halting a two-day winning streak that marked the start of the quarter.
The benchmark 10-year rate climbed to 3.822%, while the 2-year yield rose to 4.241%.
There were 219,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending Oct. 1, according to the US Department of Labor, up 29,000 from the previous week's revised level.
Analysts had forecast a rise of 203,000, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal.
Analysts are awaiting Friday's jobs report, with analysts calling for a rise of 275,000, according to The Journal.
"The latest labor market data point to further softening in the job market ahead," said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank.
"I expect tomorrow’s jobs report to show the unemployment rate edging down to 3.6% from 3.7%--the survey for the unemployment rate was conducted earlier in the month than the period covered by the latest jobless claims data--and 215,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added from August," he added.
However, Adams said the pace of job growth will likely average considerably slower in the next few quarters.
"Employers have been reluctant to lay off employees so far in 2022 despite a slowing economy because it is so difficult to hire," he said. "But that will change, especially in sectors closely tied to the housing market."
OPEC+, which includes Russia, on Wednesday agreed to cut oil production by 2 million barrels of oil a day, or 2% of global production.
The move is likely to increase energy prices and help Russia finance its war on Ukraine.
President Joe Biden is "disappointed by the short-sighted decision by OPEC+ to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of [President Vladimir] Putin's invasion of Ukraine," a White House statement said.
"At a time when maintaining a global supply of energy is of paramount importance, this decision will have the most negative impact on lower and middle-income countries that are already reeling from elevated energy prices," the statement said.
In the past three months oil prices have dropped from $120 a barrel as traders mulled the prospect of a global recession. Bloomberg News reported Thursday morning that U.S. crude-oil futures were trading at more than $88 a barrel, up 11% this week.
Louis Navellier of Navellier Calculated Investing said the real production cut may be more like 900,000 barrels per day "after factoring in Russia’s production declines and some smaller OPEC members."
"The bottom line is that OPEC+ wanted to 'shock' energy markets to get crude oil prices per day up to $100 per barrel," he said. "As always, Saudi Arabia can implement the biggest production cuts and its output will likely determine the ultimate crude oil production cut."
Brent crude was up 1.62% to $94.88 a barrel, while WTI climbed 1.38% to $88.97.
Meantime, The Journal reported that the Biden administration is planning to ease sanctions on Venezuela, a move that could reopen U.S. and European markets to oil exports from the country.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's representatives and Twitter (TWTR) unsuccessfully discussed cutting the price at which the entrepreneur would buy the microblogging platform, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
And even as Musk has indicated that he would go forward with the original terms for the takeover, $54.20 a share or $44 billion, several issues remain unresolved, the paper said.
These include what the two sides would need to do before each would drop the lawsuit it filed against the other, and whether closing of the deal would be conditioned on Musk, securing financing, the paper reported. Twitter was done 1.17% to $50.70.
Peloton Interactive (PTON) shares ended up 4%. The Journal said the interactive fitness company plans to slash about 500 jobs, roughly 12% of its remaining workforce, in the company’s fourth round of layoffs this year.
Chief Executive Barry McCarthy, who took over in February, said he is giving the unprofitable company another six months or so to significantly turn itself around and, if that fails, Peloton likely isn’t viable as a stand-alone company.
