Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Thursday as market participants digested this week’s jobless claims figures from the Labor Department and earnings from Nvidia and Macy’s.
As of 1500 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28% at 35,829.53, while the S&P 500 was 0.11% firmer at 4,693.73 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.15% stronger at 15,945.61.
The Dow Jones opened 101.52 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.
Thursday’s primary focus, as always, was news that initial jobless claims remained relatively stable in the week ended 13 November, according to the Labor Department, potentially signalling that the elevated level of layoffs seen during the Covid-19 pandemic may have plateaued.
First time claims for unemployment totalled 268,000 last week, a decline of 1,000 from the prior week to a fresh pandemic-era low but higher than estimates for a print of 260,000. Continuing claims declined by 129,000 to 2.08m, the lowest reading seen since 14 March 2020, while the four-week moving average declined to 272,750.
Elsewhere on the macro front, manufacturing activity in the US mid-Atlantic region accelerated sharply in November, the results of a closely-followed index showed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s factory sector index jumped from 23.8 in October to 39.0 for November. Economists had pencilled-in a decline to 22.0.
Still to come, the Conference Board’s October leading index and the Kansas Fed’s November composite index will follow at 1500 GMT and 1600 GMT, respectively.
In the corporate space, chipmaker Nvidia was up 11.49% at the bell after beating on both the top and bottom lines in its latest quarterly earnings report and offering up a positive outlook, while retailer Macy’s stock shot up 21.53% after it smashed estimates on the back of a 32% surge in same-store sales.
Boeing shares were flying lower despite being on the receiving end of an upgrade from JP Morgan analysts, while food maker Kraft Heinz shares slumped in after the firm revealed it would be making a secondary offering of common stock.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, while slightly higher, was sitting at 1.598% in early trading after topping 1.61% at one point during yesterday’s session.
Dow Jones – Risers
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $400.25 1.37%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $173.05 0.76%
Boeing Co. (BA) $228.21 0.70%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $157.17 0.48%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $153.91 0.27%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $163.70 0.26%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $147.46 0.24%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $203.15 0.08%
American Express Co. (AXP) $179.75 0.08%
Visa Inc. (V) $205.15 0.05%
Dow Jones – Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $51.76 -8.81%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $155.93 -0.89%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $305.77 -0.73%
3M Co. (MMM) $182.08 -0.69%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $49.91 -0.64%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $204.57 -0.61%
McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) $251.39 -0.51%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $117.60 -0.39%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $115.00 -0.36%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $51.56 -0.33%
S&P 500 – Risers
Macy’s Inc. (M) $36.10 17.06%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $324.51 10.90%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $78.90 5.77%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $59.61 5.54%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $158.49 4.72%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $24.77 4.25%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $34.53 4.04%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $222.90 3.11%
Deere & Co. (DE) $364.27 3.04%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $187.80 2.32%
S&P 500 – Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $51.76 -8.81%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $29.13 -6.99%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.24 -3.61%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $343.18 -3.18%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $62.44 -2.75%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $85.33 -1.84%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $135.77 -1.72%
Copart Inc. (CPRT) $154.53 -1.68%
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $57.73 -1.65%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $325.34 -1.58%
Nasdaq 100 – Risers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $324.51 10.90%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $86.81 4.41%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $222.90 3.11%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $187.80 2.32%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $77.13 2.21%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $878.32 2.19%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $1,108.34 1.78%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $74.61 1.68%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $191.70 1.12%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $3,580.03 0.87%
Nasdaq 100 – Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $51.76 -8.81%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $155.86 -3.68%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.24 -3.61%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $62.44 -2.75%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $85.33 -1.84%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $135.77 -1.72%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $325.34 -1.58%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $296.55 -1.45%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $90.10 -1.42%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $372.54 -1.35%
