US open: Stocks trade higher following jobless claims reading

dl wall street wall st new york city new york stock exchange nyse dow jones nasdaq street sign nyc united states usa america pb — Sharecast / Alessandro D Andrea via Pixabay

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Thursday as this week's jobless claims data from the Labor Department was firmly in focus.

As of 1545 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.49% at 39,248.99, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.27% to 5,201.89, and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.09% firmer at 16,317.88.

The Dow opened 192.60 points higher on Thursday, putting the blue chip on course for a seventh-straight positive session.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note was drawing an amount of investor attention prior to the open on Thursday, climbing more than one basis point to 4.495%, just below the key 4.5% mark, while its two-year counterpart was down a little over one basis point to roughly 4.832%. Investors have been keeping a keen eye on treasury yields as questions remain on when exactly the Federal Reserve will look to cut rates.

Earnings were also in focus on Thursday, with Airbnb trading lower as weak guidance overshadowed a Q1 beat on both the top and bottom lines, while retail trading platform Robinhood was in the green on the back of first-quarter earnings and revenue that came in ahead of estimates, and Warner Brothers Discovery posted Q1 numbers that fell short of expectations on both the top and bottom lines despite strength in its streaming unit.

On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated clip in the week ended 4 May, according to the Department of Labor, hitting a nine-month high in the process. Initial jobless claims rose by 22,000 to 231,000, the highest since August 2023, above market expectations for a reading of 210,000, and halting a streak of four consecutive downside surprises to point to a sharp and sudden breakthrough of weakness in the labour market. The four-week moving average for initial claims, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, jumped by 4,750 to 215,000, while continuing claims increased by 17,000 to 1.78m

Still to come, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco president Mary Daly will deliver a speech at 1900 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $344.95 1.81%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $59.48 1.43%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $349.00 1.31%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $163.99 0.89%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $450.82 0.87%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $30.22 0.73%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $309.55 0.73%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $197.07 0.73%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $150.02 0.72%
American Express Co. (AXP) $237.65 0.60%