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US stocks slipped in Thursday morning trades as investors digested a slate of news and economic data.Jobless claims fell for a fifth straight week to 213,000, below economist estimates for 227,000.Meanwhile, a deal was struck with railroad unions to avoid a shutdown of freight train travel.
US stocks moved lower in Thursday trades despite solid economic data and a resolution to the railroad union disputes.
Weekly jobless claims fell for a fifth straight week last week to 213,000. That’s below economist estimates for 227,000 in jobless claims, and it’s a sign that the labor market remains strong as businesses look to fill empty positions.
Separately, concerns of a railroad strike were averted on Thursday after President Joe Biden announced that unions struck a deal with their respective railroad companies.
A potential strike of long-haul freight rail would have been devastating to the economy, as railroads are responsible for moving about 25% of the economy’s goods. Estimates suggested that a railroad strike would cost the US economy $2 billion per day.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Thursday:
S&P 500: 3,935.59, down 0.26%Dow Jones Industrial Average: 31,079.77, down 0.18% (55.32 points)Nasdaq Composite: 11,692.90, down 0.23%
Here’s what else is happening this morning:
Railroad stocks surged after unions struck a deal to avert a strike, with CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific all gaining about 3%.
Apple has unseated Tesla as the most-shorted US stock – after Elon Musk’s EV company held the title for 864 days, according to data from S3 Partners.
The founder of Patagonia is giving away his billion dollar company and ensuring that all profits go towards fighting climate change.The Ethereum blockchain completed its Merge upgrade early Thursday, cofounder Vitalik Buterin said.Billionaire investor Ray Dalio predicts the Fed will hike interest rates to at least 4.5% – and warns a major recession is likely, coupled with a 20% sell-off in the stock market.
In commodities:
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.94% to $86.76 per barrel. Brent crude, oil’s international benchmark, dropped 2.06% to $92.16.Gold fell 0.88% to $1,694.10 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 3 basis points to 3.45%.Bitcoin was trading mostly flat, hovering around $20,070.