S&P 500 in longest losing streak in 8 years

Stocks shifted into malaise mode Thursday afternoon with the looming election, sending the S&P 500 down for an eighth straight day.

That's the longest losing streak for the broad market index since 2008, CNBC reported.

All three major indexes fell for the day after holding onto gains for at least much of the morning. The S&P 500's loss was 0.4%, while the Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2% and 0.9%, respectively.

Investors remain nervous about the outcome of the presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump next week as polls tighten.

Why the election still has investors nervous

As expected, the Federal Reserve left interest rate policy unchanged Wednesday but kept the door open for a rate hike at its December meeting.

U.S. benchmark oil futures slipped again, falling 1.5% to $44.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

3 election outcomes that could hurt stocks

European markets declined. Germany’s DAX lost 0.4% and France’s CAC dipped 0.1%.  Britain’s FTSE 100 skidded 0.8%, as the Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged as expected and raised growth forecasts.

The British pound jumped after a court ruled that parliament must vote before the government can trigger a two-year countdown to Britain’s exit from the European Union.The battered British currency rose a strong 1.5% to $1.24 after a court ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May must hold a vote in parliament over leaving the EU. May had maintained that the government could give the EU notice it is leaving without such a vote, after voters chose the “leave” option in a referendum in June.

A vote in parliament was seen as making it less likely that the government would wind up with a “hard” exit involving loss of access to tariff-free business with the EU, the country’s largest trading partner. The government can appeal the court decision.

In Asia, Australia’s S&P ASX/200 fell 0.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.6%. Shares also fell in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. The Shanghai Composite bucked the trend to rise 0.8%, and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.3%. Japan’s market was closed for a holiday.