US open: Stocks attempt to bounce back from yesterday's losses

dl exchange place wall st street pl new york city nyc ny nyse stock exchange dow jones sp nasdaq finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america — Exchange PlaceSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Thursday after major indices registered some heavy losses in the previous session.

As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.69% at 34,596.22, while the S&P 500 was 0.93% firmer at 4,497.79 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.02% stronger at 14,063.97.

The Dow opened 237.72 points higher on Thursday, reclaiming some of the losses recorded by the blue-chip index a day earlier.

Market participants were continuing to monitor events in Eastern Europe early on Thursday, with NATO leaders meeting in Brussels to discuss increasing pressure on Moscow as Ukraine appeared to be retaking ground in the war with its neighbour.

On the macro front, initial unemployment claims dropped by 28,000 over the week ended 19 March to hit 182,000, according to the Labor Department, better than the 215,000 expected by analysts. The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out the variations in the figures from one week to the next, fell by 11,500 to 211,750, while secondary jobless claims slid by 67,000 to 1.35m.

Elsewhere, orders for goods made to last more than three years dropped unexpectedly last month, albeit principally due to a large decline in the oft-volatile orders for civilian aircraft. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, durable goods orders shrank at a month-on-month pace of 2.2% in February to reach $189.94bn.

Finally, the US economy was firing on all cylinders in March, according to the results of two surveys, with IHS Markit's services sector purchasing managers' index hitting an eight-month high of 58.9, up from 56.5 in the previous month, while its manufacturing PMI rose from 57.3 to 58.5.

In the corporate space, Spotify shares were higher after the music streaming platform struck a deal with Google that will allow it to offer its own billing on Android devices, while Olive Garden parent company Darden Restaurants saw shares its slip after posting softer-than-expected earnings before the open.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $50.41 4.43%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $510.35 1.41%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $237.21 1.29%
American Express Co. (AXP) $188.28 1.21%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $64.05 1.18%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $80.62 1.12%
Boeing Co. (BA) $187.88 0.99%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $238.29 0.92%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $182.99 0.75%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $223.68 0.68%