New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange traded in loose order Thursday a few minutes after opening, examining disappointing weekly unemployment figures in the United States.

Around 2:15 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones dropped 0.07% to 34,772.03 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, rose 0.21% to 14,662.70 points.

The extended S&P 500 index advanced 0.05% to 4,360.81 points.

The day before, these indices had ended up for the second session in a row after a strong stall on Monday.

The Dow Jones index had concluded up 0.83% to 34,798 points.

The Nasdaq had advanced 0.92% to 14,631.95 points.

The S&P 500 gained 0.82% to 4,358.69 points.

Before the publication of statistics from the Ministry of Labor, futures contracts were in the green during trading prior to the opening of the market.

But the unexpected rise in new claims for unemployment benefits, to 419,000 instead of the expected 360,000, has dampened investor momentum.

"The pre-session gains were eroded by the unexpected acceleration in jobless claims," ​​Schwab analysts noted.

However, "the markets seem to accept the disruption that the spread of the Delta variant may represent around the world and the probability that we have reached a peak in terms of profits as well as economic growth," they added.

Among the indicators, sales of second-hand homes picked up again in June after four months of decline, but increasing slightly less than expected.

The number of older properties that sold in June climbed 1.4% in June from May, to 5.86 million homes and apartments at an annualized rate, according to the National Federation of American Realtors (NAR).

Analysts expected a larger increase, to 5.90 million goods sold.

The earnings season also continued to be in full swing, with mixed reviews from investors.

American Airlines reported quarterly net profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic, reflecting the return of passengers as the vaccination campaign progressed.

The company earned $ 19 million from April to June after taking a net loss of $ 2.1 billion around the same time last year.

Despite this return to profits, American Airlines lost more than 2%.

Despite an increase in turnover in the second quarter, its competitor Southwest Airlines still suffered a loss, excluding exceptional items, and was sanctioned by the market where the share lost more than 3%.

The American group Dow, which manufactures materials and products for industrialists, also dropped almost 1% despite strong demand for its products and quarterly profit almost doubled from the previous quarter to $ 1.9 billion.

The video streaming platform Netflix, down 3.28% the day before after the publication of quarterly accounts up but denoting a saturation of its market, continued to drop ballast (-0.66%).

After the market closes, investors will be watching the quarterly accounts of Intel and Twitter.

Yields on US 10-year debt edged down to 1.2716% from 1.2884%.

© 2021 AFP