US stocks were mixed on Thursday after the release of weekly jobless and July manufacturing data.
As of 10:25 am Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 190 points or 0.5 per cent, the S&P 500 was virtually unchanged, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2 per cent higher.
All the three major stock induces were higher in early trade after the Federal Reserve signalled interest rate cut in September.
At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.2 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 40,916.96. The S&P 500 rose 15.5 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 5,537.84, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 47.6 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 17,647.032.
In a sign of weakness in labor market, data showed jobless claims rose to 249,000 last week.
A report by the Institute for Supply Management said the contraction for US manufacturing unexpectedly deepened in July.
Shares of Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, surged 8.8 per cent after its stronger second quarter revenue and upbeat third quarter sales forecast.
Shares of megacaps Apple and Amazon.com gained 0.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively, ahead of their results later in the day.
Tesla dropped 2.3 per cent after Wednesday’s rally.
Moderna stock slumped 19.2 per cent after cutting its 2024 sales forecast for COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.
Qualcomm stock lost 5.1 per cent on flagging a revenue hit after the US revoked one of its export licenses for sanctioned Chinese firm Huawei.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slumped to 3.97 per cent from 4.04 per cent late Wednesday.
Gold prices fell as the dollar rebounded on Thursday.
Spot gold was down 0.5 per cent at $2,436.74 per ounce, as of 1141 GMT. US gold futures firmed 0.3 per cent to $2,481.00.
Spot silver fell 0.4 per cent to $28.91.
Oil prices extended gains on Thursday after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran raised the threat of a wider Middle East conflict.
Brent crude futures rose 71 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $81.55 a barrel by 1124 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 72 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $78.63.
