US equity indexes ended lower Thursday after bond yields and oil prices rose following President Donald Trump's threat of extreme economic measures against Iran and any country that supports it.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi dismissed Trump's warning in an X post, describing it as a diversion from America's challenges of "unprecedented debt & surging interest costs."
* US initial jobless claims fell to 206,000 in the week ended Aug. 15, from an upwardly revised 212,000 in the week earlier, and were lower than the 210,000 expected in an analyst survey by Bloomberg.
* US natural gas stocks rose by 16 billion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 14, higher than the 15 billion cf gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following an increase of 36 billion cubic feet in the week prior.
* September West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose $2.32 to settle at $88.15 per barrel, while October Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $1.91 at $93.52.
* Nordson (NDSN) shares were up about 8%, the best performer on the S&P 500, after the company raised its fiscal 2026 outlook.
* Walmart's (WMT) stock was down about 9.2%, the worst performer on the Nasdaq and Dow, after fiscal Q2 US comparable sales growth decelerated more than Wall Street expected amid a pharmacy-related headwind, while the retail giant issued a soft earnings outlook for the ongoing quarter.
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