The stock exchanges in New York started the new trading day with small results on Thursday. With that, the record series of the leading Dow Jones index and the broad S&P 500 seems to have come to a halt for a while.
Investors processed, among other things, unemployment benefit figures that exactly matched expectations. Consumer electronics manufacturer Sonos experienced a price jump of almost 8 percent after figures.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow-Jones index was a fraction lower at 35,480 points. The broad S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 4441 points, and tech gauge Nasdaq dropped 0.3 percent to 14,719 points.
Sonos, best known for its wireless speaker system, surprised the markets by ending black numbers in the second quarter of the year. The company also said sales in the current quarter were better than expected. As a result, the company also raised its expectations for the full year.
The auction site eBay (plus 0.5 percent) was also among the winners, even though the results were not too good. The company saw a decline in trading on its platforms, with the number of active buyers declining as well. The company is also forecasting lower sales for the current quarter as buying all stuff online has eased.
Aircraft maker Boeing was more or less flat in the first minutes of trading. Authorities in India are reportedly on the verge of allowing the 737 MAX back into airspace. This aircraft has been allowed to fly again since the end of last year after being grounded for a long time after two fatal accidents with the type in a short time. In several other countries, the device has already been approved after adjustments.
Chinese e-commerce company Baidu disappointed markets with its cautious outlook for the current quarter. The company warned that the escalating virus is hampering the company’s attempt to monetize other components such as cloud services or smart devices. As a result, the stock lost just under 5 percent.
Software platform Palantir won almost 7 percent after figures. The company saw its annual turnover increase by 49 percent. The company performed better than expected in both profit and turnover.