Markets close lower on U.S. jobless data
Oil down a dollar
Last Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010 | 4:37 PM ET
CBC News
North American stocks lost ground Thursday on lower employment data in the U.S., and despite a big takeover bid in the high-tech industry.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index ended down 70.9 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 11,710.18.
New York's Dow Jones industrials lost 144.33 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 10,271.21. The Nasdaq composite index gave back 36.75 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 2,178.95 while the S&P 500 index fell 18.53 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 1,075.63.
New applications for unemployment insurance in the United States reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are cutting jobs again as the recovery slows.
The U.S. Labour Department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the fourth increase in the past five weeks. Economists had predicted claims would drop.
Intel takes McAfee Inc.
Chipmaker Intel has a deal to buy computer security software maker McAfee Inc. for $7.68 billion US, or $48 per share, a 60 per cent premium in its closing price Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.98 of a cent to 96.23 cents US.
The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 99 cents to $74.43 US a barrel a day after the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said that oil supplies fell less than expected last week.
The December bullion contract in New York rose $4 to $1,235.40 US an ounce.
