US open: Stocks mixed following data, earnings

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Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Thursday as market participants looked thumbed over some key data points and more corporate earnings.

As of 1545 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.48% at 40,044.94, while the S&P 500 lost 0.08% to 5,422.74 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.62% weaker at 17,234.44.

The Dow opened 191.07 points higher on Thursday, reclaiming some of the heavy losses recorded in what was the broad-based market's worst session since 2022 following the traders' first taste of big-name Q2 tech earnings.

Earnings were in focus early on Thursday, with Ford shares down after the automotive giant's Q2 earnings came in well and truly below expectations, while Chipotle shares was in the green after the fast-food giant topped both earnings and revenue expectations.

Elsewhere, American Airlines reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue for its second quarter on Thursday, at $14.3bn, although that still fell short of its own expectations, as the airline also lowered its full-year earnings guidance, while toymaker Hasbro said recent turnaround efforts and its divestiture of eOne had helped boost both sales and profits in Q2.

On the macro front, America's economy grew more quickly than expected last quarter as companies ramped up investment and amid inventory accumulation. According to the Department of Commerce, gross domestic product expanded by 2.8% in quarterly annualised terms during the second quarter - up from the 1.4% clip observed during the first three months of 2024 and ahead of the 2.0% pace anticipated by economists.

In terms of inflation, the rate of increase in the price deflator for personal consumption expenditures slowed from 3.7% in the first quarter to 2.9% in the second.

On another note, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a slower-than-expected rate in the week ended 20 July, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 235,000, below market expectations for a reading of 238,000 and down from the prior week's upwardly revised print of 245,000. Although the decline was bigger than expected, last week's print was still significantly above the year-to-date average, hinting that although the US labour market remains tight, it has seemingly softened somewhat since its post-pandemic peak.

Still on data, orders for goods made to last more than three years cratered last month, due to a steep downdraft in those for commercial aircraft. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, durable goods orders shrank by 6.6% month-on-month to reach $264,541 and by 2.0% year-on-year. That was far weaker than the 0.3% gain anticipated by economists.

Finally, US pending home sales fell by 6.6% in May, according to the National Association of Realtors, slowing from the prior month's 7.4% drop.