After solid performances earlier in the week, U.S. equity markets tumbled in Thursday trading thanks to weakness in the health care sector and a surprise increase in jobless claims. The Dow sank by 24 points on the session while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both fell by two points on the day. Commodities reversed their recent trend by sliding as well; gold and oil were both down about 0.8% while soft commodities, such as orange juice and cotton, led on the downside with losses exceeding 2.6%. These moves lower came despite further weakness in the greenback, as the U.S. dollar index shed 1.1% thanks to a nearly two cent loss against the euro. American stocks also experienced weakness thanks to Merck, a Dow component that shed more than 6.6% on the day after it was forced to discontinue a study on its blood thinning drug Vorapaxar. Many analysts had developed [...] Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com. Related Posts: Daily ETF Roundup: BLV Sinks, UNG Surges Daily ETF Roundup: BLV Soars, UNG Sinks Daily ETF Roundup: UNG Surges On Weather, IYZ Tumbles On Increased Competition Daily ETF Roundup: UNG Tumbles, MOO Jumps Higher Best ETF Performers Of 2010: Winners For Every ETFdb Category