The Dow Jones industrial average fell Thursday morning following a surprise increase in the Labor Department’s weekly initial jobless claims. Meanwhile, Costco (COST) dropped more than 2% after reporting its first monthly same-store sales decline in nearly three years.
Initial jobless claims increased to 228,000 on Thursday morning. Economists were expecting a slight increase to 201,000 from 198,000 in the previous week.
Costco reported late Wednesday that global same-store sales fell 1.1% in March. The last time sales dropped was in April 2020. According to Costco, sales in the United States fell 1.5% in March, while sales in Canada fell 2.4%. These sales increased by 2% globally. Comparable online sales fell 12.7%.
On the earnings front, Constellation Brands (STZ) and Levi Strauss (LEVI) both reported results on Tuesday.Tesla (TSLA) dropped a fraction in premarket trading on Thursday. Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), both Dow Jones tech titans, were lower ahead of today’s market open.
Given the market’s continued strength, IBD Leaderboard stocks axon Pursue (axon), service now (Now), and Southern Copper (SCCO) – as well as Dow Jones shares Boeing (BA), Cisco systems (CSCO), and Nike (NKE) – are among the top stocks to buy and monitor.
This week’s ‘Stocks Near a Buy Zone’ column featured Boeing. Recent IBD Stock Of The Day themes included Axon, Skyline, and Microsoft.
MarketDiem, IBD’s newest newsletter, delivers actionable ideas on stocks, options, and cryptocurrency directly to your inboxAhead of Thursday’s opening bell, Dow Jones futures fell 0.2% from fair value, while S&P 500 futures lost 0.25%. Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded 0.5% lower in morning action.
Among US exchange-traded funds, Nasdaq 100-tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 0.4%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell early Thursday.
The US 10-year Treasury yield was unchanged at 3.28% on Thursday. On Wednesday, the 10-year yield closed at its lowest level since mid-September.
Taking a break from already big gains this week, US oil prices traded slightly higher in early morning trading. West Texas Intermediate futures traded just under $81 a barrel.
