Stocks Open Lower, Shrugging Off Improved Jobless Claims; Dow Down 138 By Investing.com

By Geoffrey Smith Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened lower on Thursday, unimpressed by a broadly positive set of corporate results that pointed to a gradual improvement in the economic outlook. The market also shrugged off another record low in initial jobless claims last week, which fell to 547,000, their lowest since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. By 9:45 am ET (1345 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 138 points, or 0.4%, at 33,999 points. The S&P 500was down in 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was down by a similar amount. The big stand out from the broadly negative trend was AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) stock, which rose 5.1% to a four-month high after reporting a surprisingly large gain in mobile subscribers in the first quarter. The numbers were also bolstered by a 9.8% rise in revenue at its key WarnerMedia unit. Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) stock was another to book the trend, rising 16% after the company reported a better than expected start to 2021 and raised its guidance for the rest of the year.