NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks moved sideways Thursday following mixed earnings reports as weekly US jobless claims pushed higher.
The jump in initial jobless claims by 22,000 to 231,000 puts the benchmark at the highest level since last August, according to Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
The data “will be construed as a sign of softening in the labor market,” O’Hare said. “That view, in turn, will be construed as a possible trigger for a Fed rate cut in coming months.”
The data came as the Bank of England kept interest rates at a 16-year high but signaled it could cut rates over the summer.
Wall Street climbs on renewed hopes of rate cuts
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent at 39,098.86.
The broad-based S&P 500 was unchanged at 5,186.79, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.3 percent to 16,262.30.
Among companies reporting results, Warner Brothers Discovery advanced 2.0 percent, Arm Holdings dropped 6.3 percent and Airbnb fell 7.2 percent.
Comments