Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened moderately lower on Thursday, after the release of upbeat U.S. jobless claims data and as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting still lent support to equity markets.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 dipped 0.02%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.12%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.24%.
The Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 4 fell by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 300,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 332,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to decline to 320,000.
Continuing jobless claims declined to 2.77 million, the lowest since January 2008.
Equities found support on Wednesday after the Fed's March meeting minutes showed that officials discussed whether to make a more explicit commitment to keeping short-term interest rates at record lows until inflation moves higher, but instead decided to wait.
Last month the U.S. central bank reduced the monthly pace of purchases by $10 billion, to $55 billion, and repeated it is likely to continue paring the program in "further measured steps."
Among tech stocks, BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) rose 0.25% after Chief Executive Officer John Chen said he is giving himself two years to overhaul the smartphone maker and offset dropping handset demand.
Chen reportedly plans to boost sales of software that connects computers with all sorts of machines, from cars to heart monitors.
In the auto sector, General Motors (NYSE:GM) added 0.25% after saying it shouldn’t be forced to tell car owners to park models with faulty ignition switches until they are fixed. The automaker argues that the cars are safe to drive if government-approved recall instructions are followed.
On the downside, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA)tumbled 1.26% following reports the electric-car maker plans to start selling its luxury sedans in China this month.
Elsewhere, Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) dove 5.60% after the retail chain’s first-quarter profit forecast fell short of analysts’ estimates.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Commerce Bancshares (CBSH.O), Family Dollar Stores (NYSE:FDO), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR), Rite Aid (RAD), Shaw Communications (SJR) and Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST), scheduled to report earnings reports later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 edged down 0.08%, France’s CAC 40 inched 0.04% higher, Germany's DAX rose 0.30%, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.40%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat.