US stock market opens mixed

NEW YORK (AA) – The stock market opened mixed Thursday with negative sentiment over slumping European stock markets balanced by the gains of U.S. tech companies.

The Dow Jones fell 8 points to begin the day at 18,587. The S&P 500 was flat with a less than 1 point decline to 2,172, while the Nasdaq rose 4 points to 5,094 to begin the day.

At the U.S. stock opening, Germany's DAX index was down 0.05 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE posted a 0.42 percent loss, and France's CAC 40 had a 0.30 percent decrease.

Meanwhile, the American e-commerce giant eBay's stock value soared 10 percent at the first bell, while shares of telecommunications products and services company Qualcomm jumped 7 percent.

At Wednesday's close, the Dow closed higher for the ninth day in a row. It was the seventh consecutive day the index finished at an all-time high. The S&P also posted a new all-time record close, while the Nasdaq erased all its losses for 2016 and closed at its highest level for this year.