New York (AFP)

Wall Street was moving close to balance Thursday at the start of the session after opening lower, digesting the figures of the new weekly unemployment benefit claims in the United States.

Around 2:10 p.m. GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gleaned 0.04% to 25,454.86 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, yielded 0.31% to 9,878.74 points and the broader S&P 500 index fell by 0.13% to 3,046.46 points.

The New York Stock Exchange closed sharply lower on Wednesday, concerned by the exponential increase in coronavirus contaminations in several American states and its possible consequences on the country's economy: the Dow Jones fell 2.71% and the Nasdaq 2.19%.

According to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department, the United States registered 1.48 million new jobless claims last week.

Down from the revised number of the previous week, this level is however higher than analysts' expectations, which expected 1.25 million new requests.

The number of old claims dropped to below 20 million for the first time in two months.

"The central point of the report is that, even if it is positive to see a decline in allocation requests still in progress, the level of new requests remains alarming," observes Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

"The further acceleration of identified cases of coronavirus contamination and questions about the economic reopening will raise concerns about another wave of layoffs," added the expert.

The alarming surge of contaminations in the United States, especially in the South of the country, worries more and more market players and pushes certain companies to consider suspending their activity again.

The United States is the country most bereaved by the pandemic with 121,979 deaths.

Among other indicators on Thursday, orders for durable goods in May jumped 15.8%, according to data from the Commerce Department, a larger increase than predicted by analysts.

After the close, the Federal Reserve is to release a report on the health of the US banking sector, which will be closely followed by investors.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the US debt fell, to 0.6642% against 0.6790% Wednesday evening.

- Apple closes stores -

Among the values ​​of the day, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, fell 0.31%. Internet giant announced on Thursday that it will pay partner press publishers in Germany, Australia and Brazil and offer some users free access to paid news sites

Disney was down 1.58%. The group announced that it was delaying the reopening of its amusement park in California, initially scheduled for July 17, indicating that it was awaiting instructions from local authorities.

The company also plans to postpone the release of its film "Mulan", according to the Wall Street Journal.

Apple, which will close several stores in Houston again due to the increase in the number of contaminations in Texas, appreciated by 0.13%.

© 2020 AFP