US open: Dow declines as investors digest earnings and falling oil prices

US stocks slid on Thursday, as investors digested a raft of earnings from some major firms and oil prices declined.

Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shed five and three points respectively.

On Wednesday, better-than-expected earnings and a strong rebound in oil prices pushed benchmarks higher.

“There’s been a lot of attention on the current earnings season and what impact the dollar, weather and oil prices had on profits,” said Oanda’s senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

“The biggest concern is the strength of the dollar and to what extent it has eroded away at overseas profits, especially as it is only likely to get stronger in the next 12 months.”

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, a voting member of the FOMC, is scheduled to speak to business leaders in Palm Beach, Florida at 18:00 BST.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will also give a speech on the economic outlook in New York, while Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will speak in London, at 18:10 BST and 18:30 BST respectively,

Mester and Rosengren, both non-voting members of the FOMC, will be followed at 20:00 BST by Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, who is set to talk about inflation at the International Monetary Fund.

Initial US unemployment claims rose by 12,000 over the seven days ending on 11 April to reach 294,000, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistic (BLS).

“The slight uptick in initial claims is in line with the near-term volatility of the series, and we continue to view claims data as reflective of overall improvement in labor markets,” analysts at Barclays said in a note.

Meanwhile, US housing starts grew by 2% month-on-month in March to reach an annualised pace of 926,000, falling below the 1.04m expected by economists.

February’s tally was revised higher to show 908,000 starts, in comparison to a preliminary estimate of 897,000.

Netflix jumped after the internet television network said late on Wednesday that it added 4.88m subscribers in the first quarter, more than the 4.05m analysts had forecasted.

Philip Morris gained 4% after the tobacco giant beat profit and sales estimates and raised its full-year outlook.

UnitedHealth rose 3.4% after raising its outlook for 2015 earnings to $6.15 to $6.30 per share from $6.00 to $6.25 per share.

Citigroup rose 1.3% after earnings beat expectations, while Goldman Sachs shed 0.9% despite better-than-expected results.

Going the other way, SanDisk plunged over 8% ahead of the bell the memory-chip maker reported a drop in profit late on Wednesday.

Blackrock lost 2.5% even after its earnings beat expectations.

Oil prices relinquished the previous session’s gains, with West Texas Intermediate losing 1% to $55.82 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 1.2% to $62.56 a barrel.

The dollar shed 0.5% against both euro and pound but was largely stable against the yen, while gold futures climbed 0.22% to $1,204.00.