US: Dow falls again amid worries over Russia, inflation

THE Dow finished lower for the sixth straight session on Thursday as markets weighed worries about an escalation of the Ukraine war with ongoing angst over inflation and interest rates.

Another volatile round of trading concluded with two of the three indices in the red as data on wholesale prices showed that price increases eased in April compared with the prior month, but still were 11 per cent higher than a year ago.

Meanwhile, analysts expressed alarm over Russia's combative response to Finland's efforts to join Nato in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Helsinki should be aware of its responsibility and the consequences of such a move," Russia's foreign ministry said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 31,730.30, recovering about 500 points from its low for the session, but still 0.3 per cent below Wednesday's close.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.1 per cent to end at 3,930.08, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.1 per cent to 11,370.96. "Some traders on Wall Street believe that a stock market bottom is nearing, but confidence in that call is not really high," said Oanda's Edward Moya. He pointed to inflation, Ukraine uncertainty and China's Covid-19 policy as factors pressuring sentiment, preventing "some investors from taking advantage of the massive discounts across the stock market."

Among individual companies, Disney declined 0.9 per cent after it reported lower profits but saw increases in subscribers to its streaming services, and improvement in its parks business.

Analysts cited cautious commentary from the company about the second half of 2022. Rivian Automotive jumped 18 per cent despite reporting a hefty loss as the electric truck maker.