Stocks Extend Losing Skid -- U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks fell for a third day in a row Thursday, as upbeat jobs news raised speculation the Federal Reserve will soon hike interest rates.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen may shed some light when she speaks at 5 pm ET.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 78.57 points, or 0.5%, to close at 16,201.32, after plunging more than 250 points earlier in the session.

The S&P fell 6.53 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,932.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 18.27 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 4,734.48.

After the closing bell, electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit, Inc. (JBL) reported net income for the fourth quarter of $87.7 million or $0.45 per share, compared to a net loss of $26.2 million or $0.13 per share for the year-ago quarter. Shares jumped 8 percent post-market.

Mining and agricultural equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) announced a slew of restructuring and cost reduction plans, including 10,000 job cuts. Shares plunged 6.3 percent.

In economic news, the number of people filing first-time unemployment claims edged up less than expected last week, according to government data released on Thursday. This left the figure just off its recent lows.

The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims, a measure of the number of first-time unemployment filings, came in at 267,000 for the week ended September 19. This was up 3,000 from the previous week's figure of 264,000.

Durable goods orders fell 2% in August, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This matched the expectation of market analysts.

Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders were flat in the month.