US stocks open mixed as Nasdaq extends rally

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks opened mostly lower Thursday, although the Nasdaq added to records as tech shares continued to outperform the broader market amid the COVID-19 recovery.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 percent at 25,934.74.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.2 percent to 3,163.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 10,525.67, adding to record levels.

US jobless claims came in at 1.3 million last week, an exceptionally high number historically speaking, but down 99,000 from the prior week, showing a steady decline as the world's largest economy gradually reopens and workers are recalled to their jobs.

Major indices have rallied significantly from March lows on expectations for an economic rebound and boosted by extraordinary stimulus from Washington.

Investors have largely shrugged off spikes in US coronavirus cases, although there have been intermittent waves of selling.

Tech companies such as Amazon and Netflix have been big winners in the market, benefitting from the shift towards home-bound consumption during the coronavirus crisis.

Among individual companies, Walgreens Boots Alliance slumped 7.2 percent as it projected full-year profits well below analyst expectations. Market conditions in Britain are "expected to remain very depressed," the company said.

The outlook is somewhat better in the United States, but profit margins there "are expected to remain compressed in comparison to fiscal 2019," Walgreens Boots said.

Bed Bath & Beyond plunged nearly 20 percent as it reported a quarterly loss of $302 million and announced plans to close 200 stores.