US Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Edges Lower For Fifth Day; Dow Jones, Nasdaq Pare Losses

Wall Street's main indices were trading in the red ahead of the Fed meet in Jackson Hole, with S&P 500 edging edging lower for the fifth straight day. Powell is set to speak later on Friday, amid expectations of a potential Fed rate cut in interest rates in the FoMC September meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 137 points, or 0.31%, to 44,801.18, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 30.28 points, or 0.14%, to 21,142.57 as of 8:35 p.m. IST.

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. climbed unexpectedly last week, signaling a further softening of the labor market as economic uncertainty persists.

Palantir Technologies continued its downwards trend, trading 0.13 lower on Thursday. Retail giant Walmart led the losses after reporting mixed second-quarter results, while Target also extended losses to 1.78%.

Meta Platforms shares fell 1.17%, Intel tanked 1.70%, while Tesla and Nvidia were also trading in the red.

Stocks offsetting losses in the indices included only the United Health Group and Microsoft, which were up 1.48% and 0.21% respectively.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, with consumer staples down over 1%, falling the most. Communication, healthcare, and materials were the only sectors trading in the green on Thursday.

Oil prices moderated on Thursday, offering gains observed earlier after signs of resilient demand in the US, which remains the world's largest consumer of energy.

At 09:50 IST, Brent futures gained 0.60% to $67.24 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded 0.57% upwards at $63.05 a barrel.

At market open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 130.10 points, or 0.29%, to 44,808.21. The S&P 500 fell 20.54 points, or 0.32%, to 6,375.25, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 59.48 points, or 0.28%, to 21,113.38.