U.S. stocks pared losses, with the Dow Jones turning higher toward the end of trading on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 0.08% to 31,534.26 while the NASDAQ fell 0.90% to 11,709.66. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.26% to 3,944.60.

Also check this: Fear & Greed Index Drops Further As US Stocks Record Losses For Fourth Straight Session

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 1.3% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:EDN), up 6% and Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) up 3%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares tumbled by 2.6%.

Top Headline

The ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 52.8 in August from 53 in June.

Equities Trading UP

Equities Trading DOWN

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.6% to $86.29, while gold traded down 1% at $1,708.70.

Silver traded down 1.1% to $17.68 on Thursday while copper fell 3.2% to $3.4075.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.8%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.86%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.02%. The German DAX dropped 1.6%, French CAC 40 fell 1.48% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.19%.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone dropped to a record low of 6.6% in July from revised 6.7% in the prior month, while Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 49.6 in August from an initial reading of 49.7.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 47.3 in August versus a preliminary reading of 46, while French manufacturing PMI climbed to 50.6 in August from a preliminary estimate of 49. The S&P Global/BME German manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 49.1 in August versus a preliminary level of 49.8, while Italian manufacturing PMI declined to 48 in August from 48.5 a month ago.

Economics

Check out this: US Stocks End August On Weak Note Amid Low Volatility

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 96,347,970 cases with around 1,071,420 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,436,330 cases and 527,910 deaths, while France reported over 34,529,200 COVID-19 cases with 154,090 deaths. In total, there were at least 608,296,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,496,480 deaths.