US stocks open lower despite jobless claims hitting record low

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened lower Thursday despite jobless claims falling again to their lowest level since 1969.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 135 points, or 0.4%, to 35,619. The S&P 500 lost 10 points, or 0.22%, to 4,690.

The Nasdaq was off 11 points, or 0.07%, to 15,775.

Despite climbing above the 30 twice last week, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was up 1.26% at 20.15.

The dollar index gained 0.2% to 96.09 but the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 0.55% to 1.501%.

Precious metals were down slightly, with gold losing 0.3% to $1,777 per ounce and silver falling 1.9% to $22.

Crude prices fall almost 1% with Brent crude trading at $75.07 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $71.65.

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell 43,000 to 184,000 last week, hovering below its pre-pandemic level, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The figure is the ninth consecutive week below 300,000 and "the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969, when it was 182,000," it said.