By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened mixed on Thursday, losing some early momentum from futures markets, after a rise in initial jobless claims added to concerns that the renewed spread of the Covid-19 virus could disrupt the economic recovery.
By 9:45 AM ET (1345 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 6 points, effectively flat, at 34,792 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both fractionally higher, after another round of generally solid earnings updates.
Earlier, the Labor Department had said initial jobless claims had risen to 419,000 last week, their highest in two months. Analysts noted, however, that the figures may be distorted by the fact that the auto sector's plant closures for routine plant maintenance have been disrupted by the pandemic, making the usual seasonal adjustments less accurate.
There was also a note of caution from the semiconductor sector, after Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) issued conspicuously conservative guidance for the current quarter late on Wednesday. Texas stock was down 5.0% in early trading. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), the U.S.'s biggest chipmaker, reports its earnings after the closing bell.
DR Horton (NYSE:DHI) stock was also lower by 4.7% on concerns that the best of the housing market boom may be over. The homebuilder reported a 77% rise in net profit but warned that it had had to slow the acceptance of customer orders due to high lumber prices and a shortage of labor. Lumber prices more than quadrupled in the year after the pandemic erupted. They had fallen sharply in recent weeks but are still nearly 50% above end-2019 levels, and the spread of wildfires this week across Canada has threatened a key source of supply, pushing prices higher again.
Didi Global ADRs (NYSE:DIDI) were again prominent, losing 9.0% after Bloomberg reported that Chinese authorities are planning "possibly unprecedented" penalties against the company for defying regulators who advised it to delay its initial public offering in New York. Bloomberg said the penalties may even include forcing it to delist.
AT&T (NYSE:T) stock fell 0.3%, despite reporting much stronger than expected net subscriber growth both for its key mobile phone business and for its HBO streaming service. The company raised its full-year forecasts accordingly.
On the plus side, Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) stock surged 9.0% to a new record high after the shoemaker reported earnings well ahead of expectations, operating income near-tripling in the year through June. The company also raised its guidance for the full year and now expects revenue growth over over 60% and an operating margin of some 25%. Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) stock likewise surged 10% after reporting a strong second quarter.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) stock meanwhile rose 0.5% after the company admitted a slow start to sales of its Alzheimer's drug which was, nonetheless, not as bad as some had feared.