By Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks retreated from record
levels reached during the previous session to open lower Thursday
after weekly jobless claims rose to their highest level since late
March.
Investors are focused on a trio of data due at 10 a.m. Eastern
Time: existing-home sales for November, the Philadelphia Fed's
December manufacturing index (which last month dipped to the lowest
reading since May) and leading indicators for November.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)opened 16 points or 0.1%
lower at 16,150.57. S&P 500 index (SPX) began the session 4
points or 0.2% lower 1,807.32. Nasdaq Composite opened 10 points or
0.2% lower at 4,060.19.
Both Dow and S&P 500 closed at all-time highs on Wednesday
as investors took the view that a Fed tapering meant confidence in
the economy and welcomed the central bank's commitment to low rates
until the unemployment rate declines well below 6.5%, especially if
projected inflation remains below the 2% target.
"This positive forward guidance on short-term interest rates
appears to have offset any near-term concerns about tapering," Gary
Thayer, chief macro strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, wrote in a
note.
"This was probably an intentional decision by policymakers to
smooth out the market impact of tapering," he added.
U.S. states last week processed the most applications for
unemployment benefits since late March, but the spike probably
reflects typical holiday-season ups and downs instead of any abrupt
change in a labor market that's shown clear improvement lately.
In corporate news:
* Facebook fell 1.6% after the social network company said it
plans a public offering of 70 million Class A shares, with 27
million from Facebook itself and the rest from major shareholders,
with co-founder Mark Zuckerberg putting up the majority.
* Oracle rose 4.5% after the tech company's quarterly results
beat Wall Street forecasts late Wednesday.
* Darden Restaurants Inc. was down 2.3% premarket after the
restaurant chain company missed analysts expectations. The firm
also said it expects to spin off its struggling Red Lobster chain,
after facing pressure from shareholders.
* ConAgra Foods Inc. jumped nearly 4.8% in premarket after
reaffirming its full-year guidance and posting a fiscal
second-quarter profit and sales gain.
* Rite Aid Corp. shares fell nearly 7.7% after the company cut
its per-share estimate for the fiscal year, but trimmed losses to
trade down 2%. It said fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 16%.
* Shares of Target Corp. fell 1.2% in premarket after the
company was hit by an extensive credit-card breach over the Black
Friday shopping weekend.
* Accenture shares climbed 4.3% after the management consulting
firm said it earned $1.15 per share in the fiscal first quarter, up
from $1.06 in the same quarter a year ago. That earnings growth
came from higher revenue and growth in new bookings.
In other markets:
* Losses for gold deepened in European trading hours, with the
metal briefly breaching the key psychological level of $1,200 an
ounce for the first time since the summer. The metal was last down
2.5%, with silver taking an even harder knock. Gold losses came as
the dollar hit a five-year high against the yen.
* European markets sailed higher, while Japan stocks soared to
seven-month highs.
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