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Dow Careens Sideways as Weak Economic Growth Roils Stock Market

By CCN.com: The Dow and broader U.S. stock market pulled ahead Thursday afternoon, but not before a series of volatile swings threatened to unwind three months of runaway growth. A weakening domestic economy and turmoil on the U.S.-China trade front were the main factors weighing on investors’ sentiment.

Dow Tries – and Fails – to Mount Major Push

All of Wall Street’s major indexes reported gains Thursday afternoon, but not before initial turbulence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 43 points, or 0.2%, to 25,069.55. The blue-chip index fluctuated within a 167-point range, reflecting a tepid pre-market for Dow futures.

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Dow Jones Industrial Average treks modestly higher after initial turbulence. | Chart via Yahoo Finance.

Among the Dow‘s 30 index members, Nike Inc. (NKE) was the top performer, gaining 1.4%.

The broad S&P 500 Index of large-cap stocks gained 0.1% to 2,808.92 after briefly trading below 2,800 earlier. A majority of the S&P 500’s 11 primary sectors traded higher, led by materials.

The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1% to 7,651.00.

U.S. Economy Portends Future Weakness

donald trump, dow, trade wardonald trump, dow, trade war

The Dow and wider US stock market must grapple with bearish economic data, which shows that GDP grew more slowly than initially reported last quarter. | Source: AFP PHOTO / Brendan SMIALOWSKI

The U.S. economy slowed more than previously reported last quarter, sending a strong signal that the Trump-inspired recovery was losing momentum.

Gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced in the economy, expanded at an annual rate of 2.2% in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday in a revised estimate. That’s well below the preliminary reading, which showed fourth-quarter growth at 2.6% year-over-year.

The downward revision was largely attributed to a slowdown in spending by consumers, businesses, and local governments. It was the second consecutive quarter of weaker expansion after President Trump’s tax cuts produced an annual growth rate of 4.2% in Q2 2018.

Although the U.S. economy is nowhere near recession levels, activity in the bond markets suggests investors are already planning for the worst. On Friday, a closely-watched yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007, a move that economists say accurately foretells recession.

In other data, U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 5,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 211,000, the Labor Department said. Analysts had called for a modest uptick to 225,000.