Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, after the release of weak U.S. retail sales and jobless claims data fuelled fresh concerns over the strength of the economy's recovery.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.59%, the S&P 500 retreated 0.53%, while the Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.46%.
The Commerce Department said that U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.3% increase. December’s figure was revised down to a decline of 0.1% from a previously reported 0.2% increase.
Core retail sales were flat in January, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor reported that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 8,000 to 339,000 from the previous week’s total of 331,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 1,000.
Comcast Corp. plummeted 3.11% following news the company agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. for about USD44 billion, combining the largest two U.S. cable companies in an all-stock deal.
Apple saw shares edge down 0.21% amid reports the tech giant is extending its supply chain clean up beyond Chinese factories and into African mines, in a move to cut the amount of"conflict minerals" that end up in its iPhones and iPads.
The iPhone maker was also in the spotlight as it was said to be in talks with Time Warner Cable and other potential partners to add video content to its next Apple TV device, which it plans to unveil in April.
In earnings news, PepsiCo reported a 5% increase in quarterly profit, boosted by strong sales of Frito-Lay chips in the Americas and cost-cutting measures. Shares in the company were still down 1.28% at the open of the U.S. trading session.
Elsewhere, Las Vegas Sands dropped 0.75% after saying it was making progress toward restoring service and repairing its internal systems in the U.S. On Wednesday, the casino operator announced that it had been attacked by hackers who defaced at least one company website and posted personal information about employees.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower The EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.81%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.62%, Germany's DAX slid 0.37%, while Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 0.91%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.54%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.79%.