US Stocks Market Overview – Stocks are Mixed, the Nasdaq Rallies While the Dow Slips

US stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 closing in the red, and the Nasdaq bucking the trend. The Dow was under pressure early after 3M reported worse than expected earnings. Technology stocks on the other hand were buoyed by better than expected financial results after the closing bell on Wednesday which catapulted both Facebook and Microsoft. Weaker than expected jobless claims were offset by stronger than expected Durable goods orders. Sectors were mixed, led down by a 1.7% decline in Industrials, Health care bucked the trend rising 0.99%.

Jobless Claims Jumped

Before the opening bell, the Labor Department reported a huge jump in jobless claims. Initial claims for unemployment jumped 37,000 to 230,000 for the week ended April 20. The increase was the largest since early September 2017. Claims dropped to 193,000 in the week prior, which was the lowest level since September 1969. Expectations were for claims to rise to 200,000.The four-week moving average of initial claims, rose 4,500 to 206,000 last week.

Durable Goods Orders Rise

Durable goods orders which are items that last for more than 3-years, rose 2.7% in March after declining 1.1% in the prior month. Orders for transportation equipment rebounded 7.0% after falling 2.9% in February. Orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 2.1% in March. Orders for non-defense aircraft jumped 31.2% after plunging 25.4% in February.

The most impressive state was that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for business investment surged 1.3%, powered by a jump in demand for computers. That was the largest increase since last July. Data for February was revised slightly up. Expectations were for core capital goods orders nudging up 0.1% in March. Core capital goods orders increased 2.8% on a year-on-year basis. Shipments of core capital goods slipped 0.2% in March after an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in the prior month.

Amazon Crushed Earnings, Revenues Where in Line

Amazon shares were little changed in the after market despite crushing on the bottom line. Amazon reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that reflected an ongoing change at the company, which is less growth and wider margins. This is a sign of a maturing company. The company reported earnings per share of $7.09 versus expectations that earnings would come in at  $4.72. Revenue came in at $59.7 billion versus expectations of $59.7 billion. The server business also reported earnings that were in line with expectations.  AWS reported earnings of $7.7 billion versus expectations of $7.7 billion, according to analysts. Amazon’s revenue came to a slowdown across the board. It’s total revenue grew 16.9% compared with the year-ago period, representing the slowest expansion since the first quarter of 2015. Amazon’s operating profit guidance for the Q2 came in the range of $2.6 billion and $3.6 billion, far below the $4.2 billion street estimate.