TOPLINE
The market opened lower on Thursday, with more big banks reporting second quarter earnings, as investors grappled with the latest economic data showing the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Stocks fell as major banks continued to report earnings.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6%, over 150 points, at Thursday’s open, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%.
Stocks fell after jobless claims data came in slightly worse than expected, with 1.3 million more Americans filing for unemployment in the week ending July 11, according to the Labor Department.
Retail sales jumped by 7.5% in June—higher than the 5.2% expected, but lower than last month’s record surge of 17.7%.
Major banks, meanwhile, continued to kick off second quarter earnings season: Bank of America topped estimates but its stock fell nearly 4% as the company set aside $4 billion for coronavirus-related losses.
Morgan Stanley shares rose by almost 1% after the bank easily beat analyst expectations thanks to surging trading revenues—with its revenue from fixed income traders increasing by 170% last quarter.
Shares of social media platform Twitter dropped more than 3% following a massive digital currency scam late on Wednesday: Hackers gained access to dozens of high-profile accounts, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former vice president Joe Biden and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
Key background
Before Thursday, stocks had largely been moving higher this week. On Wednesday, stocks rallied on positive coronavirus vaccine news from Moderna and strong earnings results from Goldman Sachs. But recent gains come amid a backdrop of surging coronavirus infections across the country, however: The U.S. reported a new daily record of more than 67,000 cases earlier this week.
Surprising fact
The S&P is now less than 5% away from recovering all of its coronavirus losses and turning positive for 2020.
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