US open: Stocks head south after another batch of corporate earnings

US stocks opened lower on Thursday, with investors continuing to monitor trade developments and earnings.

At 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.37% at 27,167.73, while the S&P 500 was trading 0.40% lower at 3,007.54 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.78% weaker at 8,256.37.

The Dow Jones opened 102.24 softer on Thursday after turning in a mixed performance on Wednesday as market participants began to look ahead to face-to-face talks between American and Chinese negotiators next week.

Investors were keeping an eye out for trade developments between the US and China, with negotiators set to meet next week. However, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that the two superpowers still had a lot of issues to work out.

Eyes were also firmly fixed on the European Central Bank, which left interest rates unchanged on Thursday but signalled that a rate cut and more monetary easing were on the cards, pushing the euro to a two-month low against the dollar.

On the earnings front, Ford shares were down in early trading after falling short of estimates, while Boeing shares continued their downward descent after reporting a massive quarterly loss in the previous session.

Facebook shares were down at the bell despite posting a considerable beat on its revenue per user overnight, while 3M shares climbed in early trade after posting better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the previous quarter.

Alphabet, Amazon, Intel, Starbucks and Mattel will report after the close.

In macroeconomic news, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a three-month low last week.

US initial jobless claims dropped by 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 206,000, their lowest level since mid-April and a stark contrast versus expectations for an increase to 219,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 213,000, down 5,750 from the previous week's average.

Elsewhere, wholesale inventories rose 0.2% in June after increasing 0.4% in May, according to the Commerce Department, as weak business investment and issues at the likes of Boeing undercut manufacturing, which accounts for about 12% of the US economy.

However, overall orders for durable goods, items ranging from toasters to aircraft, increased 2% in June - the most since August 2018.

Core capital goods orders increased 1.9% in June, while the goods trade deficit fell 1.2%.