U.S. stocks close mixed amid economic slowdown concerns, banking turmoil

NEW YORK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks continued to close mixed on Thursday as investors remain wary of economic slowdown and difficulties facing regional banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 221.82 points, or 0.66 percent, to 33,309.51. The S&P 500 fell 7.02 points, or 0.17 percent, to 4,130.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 22.07 points, or 0.18 percent, to 12,328.51.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with energy and utilities leading the laggards by going down 1.24 percent and 1.14 percent, respectively. Communication services and consumer discretionary led the gainers by rising 1.65 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively.

The U.S. economy showed more signs of slowdown though inflation pressures eased at the same time.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday that the U.S. producer price index (PPI) increased by 0.2 percent in April month on month, lower than economists' expectation of a 0.3 percent growth.

The U.S. PPI increased by 2.3 percent in April year on year, down from a 2.7 percent growth in March and lower than the forecast consensus of 2.5 percent. The latest year-on-year reading is the lowest since January 2021.

Meanwhile, U.S. new jobless claims increased to 264,000 in the week ending May 6, higher than economists' expectation of 245,000 and the previous week's 242,000.

It looks that traders focused on rising initial jobless claims, which showed that the job market has started to feel the pressure from high interest rates, said Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire.

The shares of PacWest Bancorp tumbled 22.7 percent on Thursday as its total deposit dropped by 9.5 percent in the week ending May 5.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Thursday issued a proposal to raise the fees for its member banks so as to recover the losses of 15.8 billion U.S. dollars in its insurance fund due to the recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.