US open: Stocks mixed on earnings and data

US stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors assessed corporate earnings and economic data.

At 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 01.6%, the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq rose 0.15%.

In corporate earnings, General Motors shares jumped after reporting a 157% increase in net profit in the second quarter and lifting its annual guidance.

Southwest Airlines Co. slumped after reporting an increase in second quarter earnings that missed analysts’ expectations.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. rallied as it posted second quarter sales that beat forecasts.

Intel shares dropped even as the company’s second-quarter earnings beat estimates, revenues were a little light.

Dunkin’ Brands declined after the owner of Dunkin’ Donuts revealed slower-than-expected sales growth in the second quarter.

Elsewhere, Tesla Motors and SolarCity Corp reversed earlier gains after Elon Musk outlined a plan for the combination of the two companies

Joy Global rocketed after Japan’s Komatsu said it had agreed to purchase the mining gear maker for $2.89bn.

On the maco-economic data front, the Labor Department said US initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to 253,000 in the week the 16 July from 254,000. Economists had pencilled in 265,000 claims.

Manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly deteriorated in July, with activity contracting, according to the latest report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The diffusion index for current activity fell to -2.9 from 4.7 in June, missing expectations for an increase to 5.0. The index has been negative for nine of the past 11 months.

Sales of existing US homes unexpectedly rose in June, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Sales were up 1.1% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.57m from a downwardly revised 5.51m the month before. Economists had been expecting a 0.7% decline.

Separately, the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house prices index rose 0.2% in May from an upwardly-revised 0.3% the previous month and compared to expectations for a gain of 0.4%.

The US leading economic index rose 0.3% in June after declining 0.2% in the prior month, exceeding forecasts for a 0.2% increase.