- US stocks edged lower on Thursday as investors digested mixed bank earnings and a rise in jobless claims.
- Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley beat Q1 earnings estimates, while Wells Fargo missed.
- Meanwhile, jobless claims jumped 18,000 to 185,000 last week after falling to a 54-year low.
US stocks were slightly higher on Thursday as investors digested a slew of bank earnings and a rise in weekly jobless claims.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup all reported first-quarter earnings results that beat analyst estimates, as a strong consumer and profitable trading divisions was enough to outweigh a near-halt in underwriting activity for IPOs.
Wells Fargo's first-quarter earnings results missed analyst estimates as non-interest revenue plunged 28% from the prior quarter.
Meanwhile, jobless claims jumped 18,000 to 185,000 last week after falling to a 54-year low in the prior week. All-in, the low jobless claims still points to a tight labor market as demand for workers outstrips supply.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 4,452.77, up 0.14%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,789.73, up 0.65% (225.14 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 13,654.17, up 0.06%
Elon Musk made waves on Thursday after he delivered a hostile takeover proposal to Twitter. Musk offered $54.20 per share for all of Twitter's outstanding shares, representing a value of more than $40 billion and a premium of 18% from Wednesday's close.
While Twitter's board of directors reviews the offer, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives thinks a deal will ultimately get done in a "soap opera" fashion.
Holders of Russian dollar bonds have said they cannot accept rubles, in the latest sign the government is headed for a default. Russia last week transferred rubles to make bond payments, after the US Treasury blocked its attempts to pay in dollars.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell as much as much as 1.60% to $102.58 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell as much as 1.52% to $107.13.
Bitcoin fell 0.36% to $41,188. Ether prices fell 0.94% to $3,089.
Gold fell as much as 0.27% to $1,979.40 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury added three basis points to 2.73%.