US open: Washington's trade plans continue to weigh on sentiment

US markets saw losses at the session open on Thursday, following the heavy losses seen on the Street during the previous session, as worry and confusion over Trump's trade plans continued to weigh on sentiment.

At 1540 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.15% to 24,080.41, while the S&P 500 had dropped 0.08% to 2,697.45 and the Nasdaq lost 0.14% to 7,434.83.

SpreadEx's Connor Campbell said, "The Dow Jones, which had been looking at an 80 point rise, ended up falling 60 points after the bell, hitting 24050 for the first time since May 4th. There were a few reasons for the Dow's decline: softened up by the underlying trade war fears, the index was further damaged by a weaker than forecast final Q1 GDP reading for the US, and a huge 10% plunge from Walgreens Boots Alliance following the news that Amazon had bought online pharmacy Pillpack."

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam added, "With Trump picking fights on multiple fronts and no sides showing any willingness to back down, we may have to get used to this risk-averse environment in the near-term. Markets have a tendency to move on though if we go a few weeks without any further escalation and gradually become less sensitive to the rants and reactions of those involved."

Meanwhile, Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said: "Some analysts are speculating that part of the US equities sell-off is being driven by the end of the bull market in technology stocks rather than simply trade war fears."

In corporate news, shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance slumped 9.58% after it reported a 15.5% jump in quarterly profit, while spice and flavour company McCormick's was 7.55% hotter after the release of its second-quarter numbers.

Eli Lilly gained 0.44% after the pharmaceutical group announced positive results from a mid-stage trial of a treatment for inflammatory disease Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Elsewhere, Bed Bath & Beyond lost 7.01% at the open after the home furnishings retailer posted weaker-than-expected quarterly same-store sales late on Wednesday.

On the data front, initial US unemployment claims increased last week but remained near multi-decade lows.

For the week ending on 23 June, claims rose by 9,000 to reach 227,000, according to the Department of Labor.

Economists had forecast a reading 220,000.

In other news, the US economy slowed a tad more than previously estimated during the first quarter of 2018.

Gross domestic product increased 2% annually during the three months ended 31 March, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, shy of the 2.2% estimate it reported last month.

The economy grew at a 2.9% rate in the fourth quarter, with the downgraded seen as a reflection of softer consumer spending and a smaller inventory accumulation than forecast by Washington.