Wall Street Opens Lower, Pressured By Interest Fears

New York, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2018 ) :Wall Street opened lower Thursday as renewed fears of rising interest rates combined with pressure on the tech sector to drag shares down. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note surpassed 3.1 percent for the first time since 2011, sending jitters through markets that had rallied Wednesday on encouraging economic data. About 10 minutes into the day's trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 percent at 24,695.92, but then recovered some ground. The broader S&P 500 and Nasdaq had both sunk 0.3 percent at 2,717.45 and 7,382.29, respectively, and then moved back up to about flat. Philadelphia Federal Reserve bank's index of manufacturing activity showed sudden jump this month, leaping past expectations to a reading of 34.

4. The Labor Department also reported that jobless claims extended a record stretch of low levels, confirming the strength of the job market. "Nothing -- not even another encouraging initial claims report -- seems to be carrying the stock market this morning, which has a groggy feel to it," Patrick O'Hare wrote at Briefing.com. Cisco fell 4.4 percent after reporting weaker-than-expected sales for a key segment, dragging the Dow lower. Walmart fell one percent after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly earnings per share. Coca-Cola added 0.2 percent after receiving an upgrade from Barclays. Meanwhile Wells Fargo tumbled 1.6 repent following a report that employees at the scandal-tarred banking giant had altered customer documents.