US open: Stocks mixed as inflation remains in focus

Wall Street stocks opened mostly lower on Thursday as inflation data continued to weigh on sentiment.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.22% at 31,764.91 and the S&P 500 was 0.13% weaker at 3,930.16, while the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.27% stronger at 11,395.26.

The Dow Jones opened 69.20 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as April's CPI data revealed that consumer prices had jumped 8.3%, higher than expected and close to a 40-year high of 8.5%.

The CPI reading led market participants to continue to offload risky assets such as tech stocks and bitcoin, with Apple stock heading south and pushing the tech behemoth into a bear market, while the benchmark cryptocurrency fell to roughly $23,150 in early trading.

With the CPI reading still in focus, growth in the US producer price index slowed as expected in April, according to figures released on Thursday by the Labor Department. The producer price index for final demand rose 0.5%, in line with analysts’ expectations and down from 1.6% in March and 1.1% in February.

On the year, PPI rose 11% in April, versus 11.5% the month before and expectations for a 10.7% jump. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 0.4% on the month compared with an upwardly-revised 1.2% in March. On the year, core PPI rose 8.8%.

Elsewhere, US first-time jobless claims ticked up by 1,000 in the week ended 7 May to hit 203,000, ahead of both the prior week's upwardly revised print of 202,000 and estimates for a reading of 195,000. According to the Labor Department, the four-week moving average was 192,750, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised reading, which grew from 188,000 to 188,500,

In corporate headlines, Disney shares traded lower after posting mixed earnings results overnight, with higher-than-expected streaming subscriber growth being paired with a warning regarding the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on its Asian theme parks.

As far as Thursday's earnings were concerned, Six Flags beat estimates with its first-quarter earnings per share and revenues, which came in at $1.04 and $138.0m, respectively.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note also continued to march lower shortly after the opening and bell to trade at 2.869%.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $133.54 2.13%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $288.65 2.01%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $149.76 1.45%
3M Co. (MMM) $148.39 1.35%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $242.93 0.95%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $245.70 0.52%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $161.89 0.39%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $172.87 0.28%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $66.91 0.18%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $176.38 0.14%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $141.97 -3.09%
American Express Co. (AXP) $154.68 -2.96%
Boeing Co. (BA) $126.09 -2.55%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.67 -2.41%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $159.46 -2.27%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $477.57 -1.76%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $202.13 -1.50%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $256.77 -1.45%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $116.93 -1.02%
Visa Inc. (V) $195.34 -0.70%

S&P 500 - Risers

Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $29.83 12.49%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $18.82 7.79%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $10.60 6.26%
Macy's Inc. (M) $21.42 5.54%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $12.03 5.53%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $9.65 4.95%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $22.77 4.79%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $28.05 4.59%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $87.48 4.40%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $11.06 4.19%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Amerisource Bergen Corp. (ABC) $147.51 -8.55%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $314.45 -5.31%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $34.17 -4.86%
Synchrony Financial (SYF) $33.63 -4.81%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $42.58 -4.61%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $57.59 -4.17%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $57.00 -4.14%
Hess Corp. (HES) $105.28 -4.02%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $83.73 -3.53%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $25.17 -3.42%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $18.82 7.79%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $3.53 4.13%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $161.05 3.19%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $344.09 3.05%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $47.69 2.39%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $621.10 2.23%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $694.29 2.15%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $61.83 2.10%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $40.63 1.97%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $73.71 1.84%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $19.08 -4.55%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $141.97 -3.09%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $161.20 -3.06%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $48.33 -3.01%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $717.39 -2.26%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $349.65 -1.83%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $86.25 -1.81%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $15.72 -1.56%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $256.77 -1.45%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $104.93 -1.10%