Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell broadly ahead of Friday's critical employment report, as crashing media stocks weighed on the major indices for a second consecutive session amid speculation of a seismic shift in the delivery of entertainment programming.
As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial extended it current losing streak to its sixth straight session, falling at one point to its lowest level since February. Energy stocks, meanwhile, dragged on the NASDAQ Composite index, the session's underperformer, as U.S. crude futures remained near six-month lows below $45 a barrel. The Dow lost 120.72 or 0.69% to 17,419.75, while the NASDAQ dipped 83.51 or 1.62% to close at 5,056.44.
The S&P 500 Composite index also fell sharply on Thursday to drop below a key technical level. For the session, eight of 10 sectors closed in the red, as stocks in the Health Care, Consumer Services and Technology industries lagged. The S&P 500 fell 16.28 or 0.78% to close at 2,083.56, down more than 2.25% from its all-time record high reached on July 20.
One day after Disney CEO Robert Iger triggered a major sell-off in media stocks with comments on how his company could alter its cable network model by potentially abandoning cable platforms for the increasingly popular video-streaming market, shares in a number of prominent media companies continued to plummet. Shares in Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB), for instance, plunged more than 20% on Thursday following the release of worse than expected second quarter earnings, reflecting viewers' penchant for shifting to video-streaming services such as Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX)to fulfill their appetite for entertainment programming.
On the Dow, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) finished as the top performers in spite of the continued decline in crude prices. Chevron gained 1.18 or 1.40% to 85.21, as investors looked to cover shorts in their portfolios. Last week, both major energy companies fell to fresh 52-week lows. The worst performer was Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which fell 1.05 or 2.20% to 46.54.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) a, which gained 1.22 or 4.57% to 27.94, rallying from Wednesday's sell-off after reporting worse than expected earnings in the second quarter when its net profits fell by approximately 25%. The worst performer was Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR), which plunged more than 29% to 52.87, one day after announcing the lay-off of 330 employees in an effort to save approximately $300 million.
On the S&P 500, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) finished as the top performer after gaining 1.10 or 15.65% to 8.13. Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ:GMCR) also finished as the worst performer on the S&P 500, just below Viacom, which lost 6.70 or 13.03% to 44.71.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,894 to 1,246 margin.