By Anora Mahmudova and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks came under selling
pressure Thursday morning, as renewed tensions between Russia and
Ukraine as well as mixed earnings and economic data sparked a
flight to safe assets, such as Treasurys and gold.
The S&P 500 (SPX) opened 5.5 points, or 0.3%, lower at
1,976.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 39 points, or
0.2%, to 17,099.36 at the open, retreating from Wednesday's record
close.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) began the day with a loss of 12
points, or 0.3%, to 4,413.85.
Among corporate news, Microsoft announced plans to cut up to
18,000 jobs, sending its shares higher. Morgan Stanley's quarterly
results topped expectations, but both Mattel and AutoNation were
suffering following disappointing earnings.
In economic news, the number of people who applied for jobless
benefits fell to the lowest level in nine weeks. But construction
on new U.S. homes was far weaker than expected, tumbling to the
slowest pace in nine months.
A July reading on activity among regional manufacturers is
slated for release at 10 a.m. Eastern by the Federal Reserve Bank
of Philadelphia. Economists expect to see the result weaken to 16.5
from 17.8 in June, which was the highest level since September.
Investors woke up to renewed geopolitical risks after news
reports that a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by missiles from
a Russian plane. On Wednesday, the U.S. unveiled a new round of
sanctions against Russia, targeting companies such as oil giant
Rosneft and Gazprombank ONO. The European Union said it will detail
new sanctions against Russia by the end of this month. European
stocks fell sharply on Thursday. Read: Russian stocks pounded after
U.S. imposes new sanctions.
Morgan Stanley rises; Mattel sinks
In earnings news, shares of Morgan Stanley (MS) gained 1.3%
after the company's profit and revenue for the second quarter beat
Wall Street's projections.
Blackstone Group L.P. (BX) reported stronger-than-expected
second-quarter earnings on the back of gains from asset sales in
its private-equity business. The shares rose 2.7%.
Mattel (MAT) shares sank 7.8% as quarterly earnings were dragged
lower by muted sales of Barbie dolls.
SanDisk (SNDK) shares fell 7.8% after the flash-memory maker's
third-quarter revenue forecast was lighter than anticipated. Read
more about the day's notable movers here.
Investors will monitor comments from St. Louis Fed President
James Bullard, who is slated to speak in Kentucky about monetary
policy at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time. Bullard said in a Bloomberg
interview last week that a continued decline in U.S. unemployment
could push inflation above the Fed's 2% target by the end of 2015.
Bullard isn't a voting member of the Fed's policy-making
committee.
After trading closes Thursday, Google (GOOG) is expected to post
earnings of $6.25 a share on revenue of $12.3 billion. Read NEED TO
KNOW: Janet Yellen might disagree, but Amazon tapped as screaming
buy.
In the commodities market, August crude-oil futures (CLQ4) rose
$1.32 to $102.52 a barrel, and gold futures (GCQ4) picked up $1.40
to $1,301 an ounce.
Asian stocks overnight closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Average
down 0.1%.
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