Sluggish start for stocks after climb in unemployment claims

Stocks were slightly lower Thursday after a surprise increase in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits gave investors pause. All three major indexes are still on pace to end the week higher after the strong gains Tuesday and Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.2%.

The Labor Department reported that unemployment claims rose last week to 419,000, the most in two months and more than economists were expecting. Economists characterized last week’s increase as most likely a blip caused by some one-time factors and partly a result of the inevitable bumpiness in the week-to-week data.

That said, investors have been nervous about how well the economy is recovering after the pandemic along with lingering concerns that the delta variant of COVID-19, which is spreading rapidly across the country, may cause businesses and cities to put restrictions into place yet again.

The 10-year Treasury note was trading at a yield of 1.26% down from 1.28% the day before. While the benchmark yield has recovered from its low yields earlier in the week, it continues to trade at relatively low levels given that the economy is in a recovery.

Company earnings reports are continuing to roll out. Texas Instruments fell more than 4% after its results disappointed investors. The chip maker also gave a weak outlook for the second half of the year.

Union Pacific rose 2% after the railroad said its profits jumped 59% from a year earlier, helped by a 22% increase in cargo carried compared to a year earlier. The results also beat analysts' expectations. Domino's Pizza rose 7% after its results also surpasses estimates.

Intel and Twitter are among the companies that will report their results after the closing bell.