NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were little changed early Thursday following mixed labor data and a Microsoft earnings warning, as oil prices fluctuated over a meeting of petroleum exporters.
Payroll services firm ADP said private employment rose by 128,000 positions last month, far less than economists expected and well below April’s total.
But the Department of Labor in a separate report said initial unemployment claims fell 11,000 last week to 200,000. Both reports come ahead of Friday’s official government data.
Wall St slides as strong factory data stokes aggressive rate hike concerns
Markets are also eyeing developments in Vienna, where the OPEC+ group of producers agreed to boost oil output more than expected in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a move that could counteract the latest rise in crude prices.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 percent at 32,735.68.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent to 4,094.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent at 12,011.06.
Among individual companies, Dow member Microsoft fell 2.2 percent as it lowered its profit and sales outlook due to the hit from the strong dollar.
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