Stocks are seeing modest weakness in mid-morning trading on Thursday, although they have moved well off of their worst levels of the session. The slim losses come following the release of a lackluster report on the labor market.
The Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims for the week ended March 6th edged down to 462,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 468,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 460,000 from the 469,000 originally reported for the previous week.
At the same time, the report showed that continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment help, rose to 4.558 million in the week ended February 27th from the preceding week's revised level of 4.521 million.
Also on the economic front this morning, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $37.3 billion in January from a revised $39.9 billion in December. The smaller deficit surprised economists, who had expected the deficit to widen to $41.0 billion from the $40.2 billion deficit originally reported for the previous month.
On the housing front, RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, stated that foreclosure filings rose 6 percent in February compared to last year but declined 2 percent from the previous month. Nevada, Arizona and Florida reported the highest state foreclosure rates during the month.
In corporate news, Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) said that it has entered into agreements to sell its assets in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Azerbaijan to British oil giant BP plc (BP) for $7.0 billion.
Men's Wearhouse, Inc. (MW) said that it swung to a fourth quarter loss, hurt by lower sales and an asset impairment charge. However, the company's adjusted loss per share was narrower than what analysts had forecast.
The major averages have seen some upside in recent dealing, but they currently remain negative. The Dow is down 16.85 points or 0.2 percent at 10,550.48, the Nasdaq is down 3.07 points or 0.1 percent at 2,355.88 and the S&P 500 is down 2.48 points or 0.2 percent at 1,143.13.
Sector News
Electronic storage stocks are seeing steep losses in mid-morning trading, as reflected by the 1.1 percent decline by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. With the pullback, the index is falling from Wednesday's six and a half-week closing high.
Steel stocks are also under pressure, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index sliding by 1 percent. The index is pulling back off the seven-week closing high set yesterday.
Shares of Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), which are down by 5 percent, are weighing on the steel index, moving off of yesterday's five-month closing high.
Airline, computer hardware and biotechnology stocks are also moving lower, while railroad stocks are bucking the day's downtrend. The Dow Jones Railroads Index is up by 1.3 percent, reaching its best intraday price in over seventeen months.
Stocks Driven By Analyst Comments
SkillSoft plc (SKIL) is moving lower in mid-morning trading after a downgrade by William Blair from Outperform to Market Perform. The stock has slipped by 5.1 percent and has set a one-month intraday low.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) is also retreating following a downgrade at FBR Capital Markets from Perform to Underperform. Shares are currently down by 1.6 percent after sliding to their lowest intraday price in just under a month in earlier trading.
On the other hand, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS) is moving to the upside after UBS upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy. The broker also boosted its target price on the stock from $31 to $42. The stock has gained 4.2 percent, jumping to an all-time intraday high.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly higher on Thursday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index gained 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are moving lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down 0.7 percent, while the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent.
In the bond markets, treasuries remain weaker ahead the day's thirty-year bond auction. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note is trading at 3.735 percent, posting gain of 1.5 basis points.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.