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Wall Street finished Wednesday’s session on a mixed note, after a day in which the major US indices tried to bounce back from heavy losses witnessed earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.004% at 24,464.69, while the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 2,649.93 and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.75% higher at 6,576.66.
On Tuesday, the Dow slumped more than 550 points and the Nasdaq lost just under 120 points, adding to Monday's heavy losses and cementing the worst start to Thanksgiving week trading since 1973 for both indices.
Losses were being sparked by a range of concerns including everything from the US-Sino trade tensions, the Federal Reserve's hiking interest rates quicker than some wanted, haemorrhaging oil prices and a sell-off in tech stocks, according to Jasper Lawler, a market analyst at London Capital Group.
“Caught amongst all these fears is the bottom line that investors are bracing themselves for a significant slowdown in economic and corporate growth,” he said.
“Whilst the economy is still doing well right now, particularly in the US, the phenomenal corporate results of previous years are expected to slow considerably.”
On the data front, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, to their highest level since June, according to data from the Labor Department.
US initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 from the previous week's revised level to 224,000, versus expectations for a drop to 215,000.
The previous week's level was revised up by 5,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 218,500, up 2,000 from the previous week's level, which was revised up by 1,250 to 216,500.
The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market.
Elsewhere, orders for goods made to last more than three years plummeted in October amid sharp drops in those for both civilian and military aircraft, although the underlying data was stronger.
According to the US Department of Commerce, total durable goods orders fell in October by 4.4% month-on-month to reach $248.52bn, compared to consensus expectations for a 2.1% drop.
They were weighed down by a 21.4% fall in non-defense aircraft and parts to $10.5bn and a 59.3% drop in defence aircraft and parts to $4.71bn.
Home sales rose a touch in October, snapping a six-month decline, but a continued weakness in the housing market left realtors begging the Federal Reserve to pump the brakes on its interest rate hikes.
The National Association of Realtors revealed that existing home sales had risen 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.22m units last month.
Although that figure was a slight improvement on the 5.15m-unit pace recorded back in September, it remained 5.1% lower year-on-year, making it the sharpest 12-month drop since July 2014.
"Demand is being choked off by higher interest rates," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
"Maybe the Federal Reserve can take a little pause in their interest rate hikes to give the chance for the housing market to be on firmer ground."
Finally, US consumer sentiment dropped more than expected in November, with Americans' views about the economy deteriorating amid rising interest rates and slumping stocks.
The sentiment index dropped to 97.5, the lowest level since August, from the prior month’s 98.6, according to a University of Michigan report Wednesday.
Economists expected a reading of around 98.3.
In corporate news, Deere picked up 2.43% despite the machinery maker's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue missing expectations.
Meanwhile, Apple reversed earlier gains to fall 0.11% after it attempted to stem recent falls to its stock price, following a report that Foxconn Technology - the biggest assembler of iPhones - was planning to cut 20 billion yuan from its expenses next year.
Bloomberg cited an internal company memo as saying that the company faces "a very difficult and competitive year".
"Apple's valuation now looks impressively discounted given its growing Services revenues," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.
Foot Locker leapt 14.91% after it beat the Street on third-quarter profits and Autodesk shares surged 9.74% after its earnings, sales and outlook all came in ahead of expectations.
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