NEW YORK: US stock markets were mixed early Thursday, as traders anxiously awaited the results of pending stress tests from Ireland's banking sector.
"The US equity markets are under some pressure in early action as European stocks are being bogged down ahead of results from Ireland's banking sector stress tests," said Charles Schwab analysts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks added 0.64 points (0.01 percent) to 12,351.97 after the first half hour of trade.
The broad-based S&P 500 index lost 0.61 points (0.12 percent) to 1,326.65, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.93 points (0.07 percent) at 2,774.86.
Ireland, rescued by an EU-IMF bailout last year, could be forced to nationalize more banks after the tests, which are expected to show its lenders need billions of euros in additional funds to survive.
The Irish Central Bank publishes the outcome of tests on already state-owned Allied Irish Banks (AIB), Bank of Ireland (BoI), nationalized Educational Building Society (EBS) and Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) at 1530 GMT.
Jitters before the announcement forced US bank shares lower.
Bank of America fell 0.7 percent, JPMorgan Chase fell 0.8 percent and Citigroup fell 0.7 percent.
The broader market was somewhat buoyed by news that US initial jobless claims fell last week for the third straight week.
The number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments dropped to a seasonally adjusted 388,000 in the week ending March 26, from an upwardly revised 394,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department reported.
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