Dow closes nearly 200 points lower as oil spikes and October malaise continues: Live updates

Stocks fell on Thursday as concerns over Middle East tensions kept investors on edge in the run up to September's payrolls report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 184.93 points, or 0.44%, to end at 42,011.59. The S&P 500 lost 0.17% to close at 5,699.94. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day off 0.04% at 17,918.48 as a rally of more than 3% in Nvidia capped downside pressure.

October trading is off to a rocky start as escalating tensions in the Middle East dampen investors' enthusiasm. After stocks tumbled on Tuesday with Iran launching a missile attack on Israel, investors are now preparing for further uncertainty as Israel starts a ground operation into Lebanon.

U.S. crude futures rose more than 5%. That propelled its week-to-date advance to more than 8% as growing fears tied to the Middle East pushed up prices.

Energy stocks have rallied in tandem, with the S&P 500 sector up about 5.9% on the week. The sector is on pace for its best week in more than a year.

But energy was one of few bright spots in Thursday's otherwise bleak market. Nearly 4 out of every 5 S&P 500 members fell. Small-cap stocks also struggled, with the Russell 2000 tumbling 0.7%.

With Thursday's moves, the three major indexes are tracking for losses this week. The Dow and S&P 500 have each dropped 0.7%, while the Nasdaq is poised to finish 1.1% lower.

That marks a turn after a strong three quarters, with Bespoke Investment Group finding 2024 had the biggest gain over the first nine months of a year since 1997.

"We've got a fantastic year under our belts so far," said Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments. But, "there's definitely some overhangs."

Weekly jobless claims came in slightly higher than economists polled by Dow Jones forecasted, according to data released Thursday. That offers hints into the health of the labor market as traders gear up for September's closely watched payrolls report due on Friday morning.

Stocks finished Thursday lower

Stocks concluded Thursday's session in the red.

The S&P 500 slid 0.2%, while the Dow lost 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite ended marginally below flat.

With those losses, the three major indexes are tracking to finish the week with losses.

— Alex Harring

Market fundamentals remain positive as investors await September jobs report, says Janus Henderson's Jeremiah Buckley

While economic readings like the forthcoming jobs report remain top of mind for equities in the near-term, market fundamentals remain strong enough withstand any weakness from the data, according to Janus Henderson equities portfolio manager Jeremiah Buckley.

"We can't focus too much on one month of job reports, but the trend is moving in the right direction from an inflation standpoint and a labor market balance standpoint," Buckley told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. "We continue to believe the fundamental economic backdrop continues to be positive."

— Brian Evans

Good news may be in store for stocks despite election volatility, Truist says

Market volatility may tick higher heading into November's presidential election, if history is any indication. Seasonally, October has also been a volatile period for stocks as well.

But there's still some good news in store for investors, as stocks have generally tended to end the fourth quarter higher, according to Truist.

"Even with the potential for some market hiccups along the way, the good news is the fourth quarter has historically skewed positively," wrote Truist co-chief investment officer Keith Lerner. "Since 1950, the final three months of the year for the S&P 500 have averaged a price return of 4.3% with gains 80% of the time."

— Lisa Kailai Han

Solar stocks struggle as oil climbs

Stocks tied to the growth of solar power were under pressure on Thursday as crude oil prices spiked.

The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) was down 2% in afternoon trading. Shares of Enphase Energy also lost 2%, while Solaredge Technologies slid more than 5%.

There was at least one bright spot in the renewable energy trade outside of solar. Shares of EVgo jumped 60% after the company announced a conditional loan guarantee of more than $1 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to build out its charging network.

— Jesse Pound

Only two stocks trading higher in Dow on Thursday

Only two stocks in the Dow were trading higher on Thursday: Chevron and International Business Machines.

The 30-stock index was last trading 0.8% lower. Mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sent oil stocks higher and weighed the Dow down on Tuesday, although the index made a slight recovery on Wednesday.

— Lisa Kailai Han

XRP slides 9% after SEC appeals decision in landmark Ripple case

The price of the XRP token tumbled Thursday, a day after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed to appeal a 2023 court ruling that determined XRP is not considered a security when sold to retail investors on exchanges.

XRP was last lower by more than 9% at 52 cents a coin, according to Coin Metrics.

Ripple, the largest holder of XRP coins, scored a partial victory last summer after a three-year battle with the SEC. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres handed down the decision, which was hailed as a landmark win for the crypto industry. Still, while XRP isn't considered a security when sold to retail investors on exchanges, it is considered an unregistered security offering if sold to institutional investors.

For more read the full story here.

— Tanaya Macheel

More than 4 out of every 5 S&P 500 stocks trade lower

More than 4 out of every 5 names in the S&P 500 slid on Thursday, underscoring the broad troubles faced by the market.

Warner Bros. Discovery and Constellation Brands led the way with declines of nearly 4% each. On the other hand, MarketAxess and Vistra were the biggest outperformers, jumping more than 6% a piece.

As a whole. the S&P 500 slid around 0.5% in afternoon trading.

— Alex Harring

22 stocks hit new 52-week highs

22 stocks in the S&P 500 were trading at new 52-week highs during Thursday's session. Among those names, 13 hit fresh all-time highs. Here are some that hit that milestone:

• T-Mobile trading at all-time highs back to the MetroPCS IPO in Apr, 2007
• Aflac trading at all-time high levels back through our history in 1973
• Fiserv trading at all-time high levels since its IPO in Sep, 1986
• Automatic Data Processing trading at all-time high levels back through our history to 1974
• Constellation Energy trading at all-time high levels back to its spin-off from Exelon in Jan, 2022
• PSEG trading at all-time high levels back to when PSE&G became an independent public company in 1948
• Southern Company trading at all-time high levels back through our history to 1972
• Vistra trading at all-time highs back through our history to Sept, 2016

Meanwhile, Etsy, Biogen and Moderna were the three stocks in the broad market index that hit new 52-week lows.

— Sean Conlon

China internet ETF falls for the first time in 6 days

The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) fell more than 3% on Thursday, on pace for its first negative session in six.

The fund, which tracks China-based internet companies, had rallied for five straight days after Chinese authorities unleashed a flood of new stimulus to revive growth in a struggling economy. 

— Yun Li

Hims & Hers, Levi Strauss among the names making moves midday

These are some of the stocks are making big moves in midday trading:

• Hims & Hers Health — The health and wellness platform saw shares plunge nearly 14% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the shortage of popular Zepbound and Mounjaro weight loss drugs from Eli Lilly has been resolved. Hims & Her Health had previously developed compound versions of the drugs to take advantage of the shortage.
• Joby Aviation – Shares dropped more than 7%, paring back gains made in the previous session. On Wednesday, Joby soared nearly 28% after Toyota announced it's investing $500 million in the company to support the certification and production of its electric air taxi.
• Levi Strauss – The stock dipped more than 7% after the denim maker trimmed its full-year revenue outlook and posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the third quarter. Levi is also contemplating selling its Dockers business, which the company said has been underperforming.

Read here for the full list.

— Sean Conlon

WTI tops key technical level

This week's 7% rally on U.S. crude has brought the commodity above a key technical level.

West Texas Intermediate futures traded at $73.03 per barrel, above the 50-day moving average of $72.89. It's the first time since Aug. 14 that WTI breaks above that closely followed level.

Moving averages are used by chart traders to gauge a security's momentum. A move above the 50-day indicates short-term positive momentum.

— Fred Imbert

Tech, energy outperform Thursday

Energy and information technology outperformed the S&P 500 Thursday. The broad market index was down just 0.1% for the day.

Meanwhile, energy jumped 1.1% as oil prices continued to rise on concerns of supply disruptions amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Valero Energy and Diamondback Energy advanced 2% each.

Information technology rose around 0.9% as shares of chipmaking giant Nvidia climbed 3.5% higher.

— Hakyung Kim

Oil has gained 7% this week as traders fear Middle East supply disruption

U.S. crude oil surged Thursday, on pace for a third day of gains as traders brace for Israel to retaliate against Iran over its ballistic missile attack.

The U.S. benchmark hit an intraday high of $73.95 per barrel, a gain of about 5.5%. West Texas Intermediate has gained more than 7% this week.

The risk of oil supply disruptions increases as fighting in the Middle East intensifies, but OPEC+ is sitting on a large amount of spare crude that could step into the breach, according to Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy.

— Spencer Kimball

Bank stocks head for losing week

Bank stocks opened lower on Thursday, with the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) in the red.

Among major bank names, shares of Bank of America were down by 0.9%, while JPMorgan Chase dipped 0.7%.

The KBE entered Thursday down around 2% for the week. This would be its second negative week in a row for the first time since August.

— Jesse Pound

ISM service sector reading strongest since February 2023

The U.S. services sector turned in its strongest performance in more than a year and a half during September, according to a survey Thursday from the Institute for Supply Management.

The ISM services index showed that 54.9% of businesses reported expansion, up from 51.9% in August and better than the Dow Jones estimate for 55.4%. This was the highest reading since February 2023.

Elsewhere in the survey, the employment index moved lower to 48.1%, indicating contraction. That was countered by large gains in the production, new orders, new export orders and inventories indexes.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks open Thursday lower

Stocks kicked off Thursday's trading session with losses.

The Dow and S&P 500 shed about 0.3% each shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.5%.

— Alex Harring

Berkshire dumps more BofA shares, remaining stake at 10.2%

Berkshire Hathaway sold another chunk of Bank of America shares during the past three trading sessions, bringing its remaining stake to 10.2%

Warren Buffett's conglomerate dumped more than 8.5 million shares of the bank worth $338 million, according to a new regulatory filing.

Berkshire has shed more than $9 billion worth of the bank stock in a big selling spree that started in mid-July. Once its stake drops below 10%, Berkshire will be no long to disclose related transactions within two business days.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan previously said the market is absorbing the stock, aided by the bank's own repurchasing.

— Yun Li

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Wolfspeed – The semiconductor stock fell nearly 5% following a downgrade to underperform from neutral at Mizuho. The firm sees pricing for silicon carbide – a semiconductor material used in electric vehicles – being down about 10% to 20% year-over-year in 2025. Mizuho also cited lower EV production expectations both in the second half of this year and next year as another potential headwind for the company.
• Hims & Hers Health — The telehealth company declined around 9% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the shortage of GLP-1 treatments from Eli Lilly has been resolved. Hims & Her Health had previously developed compound versions of the weight-loss drugs to take advantage of the shortages. 

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Jobless claims rose more than forecast last week

Initial filings for unemployment benefits nudged higher last week and were a bit above expectations, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

First-time claims totaled 225,000 for the week ending Sept. 28, up 6,000 from the upwardly revised previous total and higher than the 220,000 consensus estimate from Dow Jones. Though claims rose, the four-week moving average, which smooths weekly volatility, edged down.

Continuing claims, which run a week behind, were little changed at 1.826 million, below the 1.836 million FactSet estimate.

—Jeff Cox

Demand for Nvidia’s Blackwell is ‘insane,’ says CEO Jensen Huang

Nvidia is seeing surging demand for its next-generation artificial intelligence graphics processor known as Blackwell, according to CEO Jensen Huang.

"Blackwell is in full production, Blackwell is as planned, and the demand for Blackwell is insane," he told CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime" on Wednesday. "Everybody wants to have the most, and everybody wants to be first."

The chief executive also said that he expects to update the company's new AI infrastructure generation every year.

"At a time when the technology is moving so fast, it gives us an opportunity to triple down and to really drive the innovation cycle so that we can increase capabilities, increase our throughput, decrease our cost, decrease our energy consumption," he continued. "We're on a path to do that, and everything's on track."

The new chips are expected to ship out during the fourth quarter, Huang previously said. He announced Blackwell back in March.

Shares of AI chip giant Nvidia rose more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday following the CEO's comments.

— Sean Conlon

Stocks track for weekly losses

With more than half of the trading week in the rearview mirror, the three major averages are poised to finish in the red.

The Nasdaq Composite has seen outsized losses this week, sliding more than 1%. The S&P 500 and Dow have shed 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, week to date.

— Alex Harring

Energy stocks outperform this week

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) ticked higher in Thursday's premarket, pointing to more gains for the group after a strong week.

Energy stocks have performed the best of the 11 sectors that comprise the S&P 500 week to date. The sector is tracking to finish more than 4% higher, which would mark its best week since January. (By comparison, the S&P 500 is poised to end the week down 0.5%.)

Diamondback has led the sector higher this week with a jump of more than 6%. Marathon Oil followed, advancing more than 5.5%.

The XLE sector fund, meanwhile, has risen for the last four sessions as investors assessed the evolving tensions in the Middle East.

— Alex Harring

European markets sink at the open

European stocks opened lowered Thursday as conflict in the Middle East weighs on regional investor sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.28% in early deals, with virtually all sectors and most major bourses trading in the red. Mining stocks led losses, down 0.79%, while oil and gas stocks were the sole outlier, adding 0.14%.

— Karen Gilchrist

Levi Strauss shares plummet in after-hours trading, company weighs Dockers sale

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co fell more than 9.5% in extended trading Wednesday after the jeans maker reported that its overall business is being weighed down by its Dockers brand. The company announced it's now considering selling off the brand.

Levi's delivered mixed quarterly results, posting adjusted earnings of 33 cents per share on $1.52 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG, meanwhile, called for 31 cents per share in earnings, excluding items, on $1.55 billion in revenue. The company also trimmed its guidance.

Sales at Levi's brand were up 5% during its fiscal third quarter, but its overall revenue came in flat. Dockers saw its sales plunge 15% during the quarter.

For more on Levi's latest quarterly earnings, read here.

— Pia Singh, Gabrielle Fonrouge

Stock futures open slightly higher

Stock futures opened in the green just shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by 37 points, or 0.09%. The S&P 500 futures added 0.1% while Nasdaq-100 futures gained nearly 0.2%.

— Pia Singh