US open: Stocks flat as investors digest raft of economic data

US stocks were largely flat on Thursday, as investors analysed disappointing housing data and a largely uninspiring jobless claims report.

Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up three points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both fell by less than a point.

Weekly jobless claims in the US increased a little more than expected in the week ending May 16, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

Initial jobless claims rose by 10,000 to 274,000 from the previous week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a rise to 270,000.

“Looking through the uptick in initial claims due to this week’s seasonal adjustment factor, labor market separations remain at historically low levels and US labor market momentum remains solid in mid-May,” analysts at Barclays said in a note.

The Chicago Fed’s national activity index edged up to -0.15 from -0.36 in March, while the three-month average rose to -0.23 from -0.27.

The index declined from 7.5 in April to 6.7 this month, falling short of the 8.8 reading analysts had expected, although it remained way above the expansion threshold.

Existing-home sales in the States unexpectedly slumped 3.3% in April after a revised 6.5% jump in March, missing the +0.8% forecast, while the flash Markit US manufacturing PMI dropped to 53.8 in May from 54.1 in April, surprising analysts who had expected a rise to 54.5.

“The survey is likely to encourage policymakers to err on the side of caution, especially in relation to any further damaging impact of the stronger dollar on growth and earnings if policy were to be tightened,” said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.

“Any decision on hiking interest rates is therefore likely to be put off until later in the year.”

Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fisher and San Francisco Fed president John Williams, both voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, will speak at 18:30 BST and 22:00 BST respectively.

In company news, electronics retailer Best Buy surged 9.53% after reporting better-than-expected first quarter results earlier on Thursday.

Cloud-computing group Salesforce.com jumped 6.19% ahead of the bell after its quarterly earnings beat analysts’ expectations late on Wednesday, while storage data company NetApp plunged 10.8% after its earnings fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.

Hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Holdings plunged after its chief executive, Robert M. Lynch, resigned unexpectedly as concerns over the safety of the group's products continue to mount.

Clothing retailer Gap, software company Intuit, computer giant Hewlett-Packard and retailer Ross Stores will report after the close.

Oil prices moved north, with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent climbing 1.3% to $59.77 a barrel and $65.93 a barrel respectively.

The dollar lost 0.92% against the pound, dropping 0.47% against the euro and 0.13% against the yen, while gold futures edged 0.05% higher to $1,209.30