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Dow Falls Over 300 Points; US Initial Jobless Claims Fall

Benzinga·03/19/2026 13:51:55
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U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 300 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.76% to 45,872.27 while the NASDAQ fell 1.25% to 21,876.31. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.93% to 6,563.00.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed by 0.7% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, materials stocks fell by 2.5%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 8,000 from the previous week to 205,000 in the second week of March, compared to market estimates of a 2,000 gain.

Equities Trading UP
           

  • Serina Therapeutics Inc (NYSE:SER) shares shot up 74% to $2.21. The company announced it entered into a $30 million private placement.
  • Shares of China Natural Resources Inc (NASDAQ:CHNR) got a boost, surging 61% to $5.33. China Natural Resources signed a LOI to acquire a majority stake in HooRii Technology in a cash‑and‑stock deal.
  • Sunation Energy Inc (NASDAQ:SUNE) shares were also up, gaining 40% to $2.02 after the company reported fourth-quarter results on Wednesday after market close.

Equities Trading DOWN

  • U Power Ltd (NASDAQ:UCAR) shares dropped 66% to $0.15 after the company announced pricing of $6.0 million public offering.
  • Shares of Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RVPH) were down 61% to $0.73 after announcing pricing of $10 million public offering.
  • MDJM Ltd (NASDAQ:UOKA) was down, falling 57% to $0.62. MDJM announced receipt of Nasdaq suspension determination.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $97.54 while gold traded down 6.5% at $4,576.00.

Silver traded down 12% to $68.250 on Thursday, while copper fell 4.1% to $5.3645.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 2.8%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 2.9%. London's FTSE 100 fell 2.8%, Germany's DAX declined 3.1% and France's CAC 40 fell 2.4% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 3.38%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipping 2.02%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 1.39% and India's BSE Sensex declining 3.26%.

Economics

  • U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 8,000 from the previous week to 205,000 in the second week of March, compared to market estimates of a 2,000 gain.
  • The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index surged to 18.1 in March, recording the highest reading since September 2025, and up from 16.3 in February.
  • U.S. building permits declined 4.7% month-over-month in January to an annual rate of 1.386 million.

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