US open: Stocks mixed as jobless claims continue to slide
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 21 Oct 2021
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Thursday as weekly jobless claims surprised to the upside.
As of 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.26% at 35,518.09, while the S&P 500 was 0.01% weaker at 4,535.65 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.35% stronger at 15,174.27.
The Dow opened 91.25 points lower on Thursday, taking a small bite out of gains recorded in the previous session when the blue-chip index closed just shy of its all-time high.
Thursday's primary focus, as always, was this week's US jobless claims report from the Labor Department, which revealed that jobless claims had continued moving lower in the seven days ended 16 October. According to the Department of Labor, initial weekly jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 290,000, defying forecasts for a rise to 300,000. The four-week moving average for initial claims dropped by 15,250 to hit 319,750, its lowest level since 14 March 2020, while secondary claims slipped 122,000 to 2.481m.
Also drawing an amount of attention was news that the Food and Drug Administration had signed off on booster shots of both Johnson & Johnson and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines as it approved "mixing and matching" vaccines.
Elsewhere on the macro front, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region deteriorated a little more than expected in October as the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's current manufacturing index declined to 23.8 from 30.7 in September, missing expectations for a reading of 25.0. The index for new orders rose from 15.9 to 30.8, while the shipments index printed at 30.0 in October, little changed on 29.9 the month before. The employment gauge, meanwhile, rose to 30.7 from 26.3.
Still on data, existing homes sales surged to an eight-month high in September, up 7% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.29m, according to the National Association of Realtors, while the Conference Board's leading index rose just 0.2% to 117.5 in September, pointing to somewhat slower growth and suggesting the economy was growing at "more moderate" trajectory than it did in the first half.
In the corporate space, AT&T beat expectations for third-quarter earnings as the US communications conglomerate posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.87, up from $0.76 a year earlier and well ahead of analysts' average estimate of $0.78.
Still to come, Whirlpool and Snap will both publish their latest quarterly results after the close.
Dow Jones - Risers
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $412.00 1.01%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $160.00 0.83%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $48.78 0.82%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $438.61 0.81%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $171.73 0.69%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $159.47 0.64%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $359.82 0.44%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $291.05 0.33%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $308.41 0.33%
Boeing Co. (BA) $216.78 0.28%
Dow Jones - Fallers
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $132.02 -6.96%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $200.98 -1.57%
Visa Inc. (V) $228.53 -1.25%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $59.30 -0.99%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $139.84 -0.97%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $55.74 -0.81%
3M Co. (MMM) $180.96 -0.80%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $80.45 -0.76%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $162.53 -0.76%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $112.42 -0.65%
S&P 500 - Risers
HP Inc (HPQ) $30.40 6.31%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $21.02 4.08%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $210.08 3.85%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $70.10 3.50%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $18.32 3.44%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $35.54 3.15%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $642.38 2.76%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $48.90 2.70%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $113.95 2.53%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $121.68 2.53%
S&P 500 - Fallers
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $132.02 -6.96%
Snap On Inc. (SNA) $215.95 -5.30%
Globe Life Inc. (GL) $93.60 -4.96%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $543.12 -3.96%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $141.06 -3.94%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $249.91 -3.27%
Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) $72.31 -3.24%
Allegion (ALLE) $132.50 -3.18%
Nucor Corp. (NUE) $102.02 -2.99%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $36.88 -2.96%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
CSX Corp. (CSX) $35.54 3.15%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $642.38 2.76%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $163.63 2.21%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $365.91 2.17%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $883.64 2.06%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $176.51 1.73%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $617.31 1.50%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $270.50 1.47%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $110.67 1.36%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $223.89 1.29%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $543.12 -3.96%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $249.91 -3.27%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $119.31 -2.16%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $53.96 -1.38%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $77.01 -1.37%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $132.27 -1.28%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $726.08 -1.08%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $86.00 -1.07%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $84.64 -1.04%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $75.20 -1.01%
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