Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened mixed to lower on Monday, as investors waited for earnings season to begin after the closing bell, while concerns the recovery in the U.S. labor market is losing momentum weighed.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18%, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite index inched 0.05% higher.
Markets were jittery after the Department of Labor on Thursday said the U.S. economy added 88,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase since last June and far below forecasts for an increase of 200,000. The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 7.6% from 7.7% in February.
The report came after disappointing data on U.S. manufacturing and service sector activity and private sector job creation earlier in the week.
Airline companies werein focus, following reports that a potential USD7 billion order from British Airways for Airbus A350 jets is set to hand Boeing its next major challenge as it nears the end of a three-month crisis over the grounding of the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing shares slipped 0.26% at the open of the U.S. trading session.
Financial stocks added to losses, as shares in Bank of America dipped 0.01% and JP Morgan eased 0.08%, while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs declined 0.12% and 0.54% respectively.
In the tech sector, as Hewlett-Packard climbed 0.73% as the company's CEO Meg Whitman was seeking to use a new line of servers to jump- start a multiyear turnaround of the company.
Apple gained 0.83% after it and six other companies won on Friday a court order to block potentially thousands of employees from proceeding in a group lawsuit that their incomes were held down by the companies’ agreements not to recruit one another’s workers.
Separately, Dell said it’s willing to reimburse billionaire Carl Icahn for expenses he incurs in the process of bidding for the computer maker, sending shares down 0.14%.
According to a March 25 statement, Icahn is offering USD15 a share in cash for as much as 58.1% of Dell’s stock.
Elsewhere, United Parcel Service edgd edged up 0.08% after it appealed the European Union’s decision to block its EUR5.16 billion bid for TNT Express to clarify the regulator’s legal arguments. The Dutch delivery company added that the appeal was not a renewal of the offer.
Other stocks in focus included Alcoa, up 0.12%, as the alumimum producer was set to kick off earnings after the closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.47%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.50%, Germany's DAX added 0.20%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.32%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.04%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 2.8%.
Also Monday, the Bank of Japan conducted its first government bond purchasing operation, purchasing JPY1.2 trillion of Japanese government bonds maturing in five years or more.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18%, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite index inched 0.05% higher.
Markets were jittery after the Department of Labor on Thursday said the U.S. economy added 88,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase since last June and far below forecasts for an increase of 200,000. The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 7.6% from 7.7% in February.
The report came after disappointing data on U.S. manufacturing and service sector activity and private sector job creation earlier in the week.
Airline companies werein focus, following reports that a potential USD7 billion order from British Airways for Airbus A350 jets is set to hand Boeing its next major challenge as it nears the end of a three-month crisis over the grounding of the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing shares slipped 0.26% at the open of the U.S. trading session.
Financial stocks added to losses, as shares in Bank of America dipped 0.01% and JP Morgan eased 0.08%, while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs declined 0.12% and 0.54% respectively.
In the tech sector, as Hewlett-Packard climbed 0.73% as the company's CEO Meg Whitman was seeking to use a new line of servers to jump- start a multiyear turnaround of the company.
Apple gained 0.83% after it and six other companies won on Friday a court order to block potentially thousands of employees from proceeding in a group lawsuit that their incomes were held down by the companies’ agreements not to recruit one another’s workers.
Separately, Dell said it’s willing to reimburse billionaire Carl Icahn for expenses he incurs in the process of bidding for the computer maker, sending shares down 0.14%.
According to a March 25 statement, Icahn is offering USD15 a share in cash for as much as 58.1% of Dell’s stock.
Elsewhere, United Parcel Service edgd edged up 0.08% after it appealed the European Union’s decision to block its EUR5.16 billion bid for TNT Express to clarify the regulator’s legal arguments. The Dutch delivery company added that the appeal was not a renewal of the offer.
Other stocks in focus included Alcoa, up 0.12%, as the alumimum producer was set to kick off earnings after the closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.47%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.50%, Germany's DAX added 0.20%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.32%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.04%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 2.8%.
Also Monday, the Bank of Japan conducted its first government bond purchasing operation, purchasing JPY1.2 trillion of Japanese government bonds maturing in five years or more.