US open: Stocks register early losses in final session of Q1

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 red at the beginning of trading in the final session of Q1.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.61% at 35,014.41, while the S&P 500 was 0.32% weaker at 4,587.93 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.22% softer at 14,410.35.

The Dow opened 214.41 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Commodity prices were in focus at the open, with West Texas Intermediate futures dropping 3.15% to $104.42 per barrel and Brent crude futures sliding 4.08% to $108.82 a barrel after the Biden administration was said to be considering a plan to release 1.0m barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserve every day for roughly six months, according to NBC.

According to the White House, the president was scheduled to speak about "actions to reduce the impact of Putin's price hike on energy prices and lower gas prices at the pump for American families" later in the day.

On the macro front, inflation continued to mount in the US in February, official data showed on Thursday, putting further pressure on the Federal Reserve. According to estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, annual core personal consumption expenditures reached 5.4% in February, compared to 5.2% a month earlier and 1.4% in February 2021. It is the fastest pace since 1983. On a monthly basis, core PCE – the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – rose 0.4%, in line with forecasts and down marginally on January’s 0.5% gain.

Elsewhere, Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 26 March, according to the Labor Department, with the overall figure rising by 14,000 to 202,000 - above market expectations for a print of 197,000. However, despite the increase, that figure was still close to the prior week's revised level of 188,000 - the lowest seen since 1969.

Still on data, US firms planned to cut 21,387 jobs from their payrolls in March, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the most in five months. Most cuts were due to store, unit, or plant closures and vaccine refusal.

"There appears to be a return of a healthier churn in the labor market. Some US employers report hiring is getting easier, particularly with the incentives many companies put in place to attract and retain talent. Meanwhile, inflation impacts and war concerns are causing workers who were depending on savings or investments to seek out paid employment", said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In the corporate space, Walgreens Boots Alliance beat earnings estimates with its second-quarter results on Thursday after the Omicron-fuelled demand for tests and booster shots bolstered sales, while BlackBerry will report after the close.

Dow Jones - Risers

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $83.23 1.01%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $244.57 0.83%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $56.31 0.46%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $250.01 0.40%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $150.10 0.15%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $62.29 0.13%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $179.81 0.12%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $223.25 0.08%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $64.29 0.05%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%