US stocks give up early gains, finish lower ahead of Biden's stimulus speech

US stock indices closed lower on Thursday, and erased their early gains after the release of weak data and ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's stimulus speech.

US President-elect Joe Biden will reveal later today his plan to launch further Covid relief during the first year of his term, with some estimates putting it at $2 trillion. 

Data showed today that the initial unemployment claims in the US rose to 965,000 last week, worse than forecasts of 785,000.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the bank will not raise the interest rate anytime soon, adding that it is too early to talk about a rate hike.

To the oil market, WTI crude February futures rose 1.3% or 66 cents, and closed at $53.57 a barrel, after hitting a day high of $53.2 and a low of $52.2.

Brent March futures rose rose 0.6% or 36 cents, and closed at $56.42 a barrel, after hitting a high of $56.4 and a low of $55.2.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.2% or 69 points, and closed at 30,991, with a day high of 31,223, and a low of 30,982.

Nasdaq fell 0.1% or 16 points to 13,112 points, with a high of 13,220 and a low of 13,098.

S&P 500 fell 0.4% or 14 points to 3,795, after hitting a high of 3,823 and a low of 3,792.