Wall Street opens on the back foot

Wall Street began Thursday’s session in the red as traders processed the jobless claims data and awaited more testimony from Fed chair Jerome Powell.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28% at 34,834 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.22% to 4,364 and the Nasdaq fell 0.27% to 14,604.

Sentiment may have wobbled in the wake of the higher than expected jobless data, with analysts at Pantheon saying the rate of decline in jobless claims “appears to have slowed” but markets may have to wait until the end of August for the true picture as seasonal adjustments faded.

8:40am: Wall Street to start lower 

The main indices on Wall Street are expected to open lower on Thursday as investors assessed the latest US jobless claims data

Spread-betters predict the Dow Jones Industrial Average will start around 171 points lower, while the S&P 500 is expected to drop 16 points and the Nasdaq is forecast to be mostly flat.

For the week to July 10, the figures showed around 360,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits, down from 373,000 the previous week but above the 350,000 predicted by analysts.

However, the level is the lowest rate of weekly claims since March 2020, indicating that the US jobs market is just about returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Back on the markets, one stock that looks to be heading higher is Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) after reports that it has hired a former EA and Facebook executive to lead its first foray into computer games.

Games will be made available on Netflix’s video streaming platform within the next year, Bloomberg reported overnight, with no plans to charge extra for the content (to start with, of course).

Four things to watch for on Thursday:

• Notable names in the earnings diary today include health insurance firm UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH), financial group US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and insurer Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR)
• Crypto market may also be in focus after the co-creator of Dogecoin blasted the technology by calling it “right-wing, hyper-capitalistic” and “cult-like”
• General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) could also feel the heat after several of its electric cars caught fire
• On the macro front, aside from jobless claims there may be interest in US import and export prices as well as production figures

Story by ProactiveInvestors