US stock markets declined significantly on Thursday. The Dow was calculated at 44,177 points, a 1.0 percent decline from the previous trading day, at the close of trading in New York.
Minutes earlier, the broader S&P 500 was calculated at around 6,115 points, a 0.5 percent decline and the Nasdaq 100, which tracks the technology-heavy Nasdaq, was at around 22,068 points, a 0.3 percent decline.
Retail giant Walmart’s quarterly earnings, released earlier in the day, were a major focus for investors. Although the company’s sales exceeded expectations, its outlook was extremely cautious and this concern also weighed on the banks’ stocks, with the KBW Bank Index declining sharply.
The European common currency was stronger on Thursday evening, with one euro worth 1.0503 US dollars and one dollar worth 0.9521 euros.
Gold prices rose slightly, with one troy ounce selling for 2,938 US dollars in the evening, a 0.2 percent increase, equivalent to 89.94 euros per gram.
Oil prices also rose, with a barrel of the North Sea’s Brent crude selling for 76.48 US dollars at around 22:00 Central European Time on Thursday, a 44-cent or 0.6 percent increase from the previous day’s close.