US open: Markets mixed amid lower jobless claims and cooling home sales

US markets were mixed in early Thursday trading as data revealing a sharp plunge in jobless claims was outweighed by a drop in pending home sales.

Gold prices were lower while the price of oil rebounded slightly after dropping to its lowest in nearly six years the previous session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,217.14 30 minutes into trading, up 25.96 points, or 0.15%. The S&P 500 lost 3.05, or 0.15%, at 2,007.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 27.60, or 0.6%, at 4,643.22.

The stronger dollar weighed on the price of gold, which was down 1.14% to $1,271.30 an ounce. Crude prices recovered slightly with Brent up 1.11% and West Texas Intermediate up 0.63%.

Jobless claims dropped to just 265,000 in the week ended 24 January, the lowest since April 2000. Analysts had expected claims to fall to 296,000 from 307,000 the previous week. The 43,000 decline was the biggest plunge since November 2012.

The data comes after the Federal Reserve remained steadfast in their claim that the American economy will continue improving alongside strong job gains, despite low inflation and the strengthening dollar.

Policymakers said they would remain "patient" over the timing of the first rate hike.

Not all data was positive, however, with figures showing that pending home sales slipped 3.7% in December, which the National Association of Realtors (NAR) attributed to fewer homes available for sale and a slight rise in prices. However, the year-on-year gain was 11.7%, the highest since June 2013.

"With interest rates at lows not seen since early 2013, the strength in existing-sales in upcoming months will largely depend on the willingness of current homeowners to realize their equity gains from the past couple years and trade up," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the NAR.

The dollar was up 0.044% on the pound and 0.341% on the yen, but fell 0.492% against the euro.

Alibaba Group Holding fell in early New York trading after the Chinese e-commerce company reported quarterly
revenue falling short of expectations.

McDonald's gained after the fast-food chain said its chief executive officer would be replaced by its chief brand officer on 1 March.

Qualcomm dropped after the chip manufacturer cut its fiscal 2015 outlook and Ford Motor climbed after the car manufacturer's quarterly earnings beat estimates.