By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened mostly higher on Thursday, recouping some of what they lost to inflation fears on Wednesday but still on edge about the possible need for early interest rate hikes to bring runaway prices to heel.
By 9:45 AM ET (1445 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 65 points, or 0.2% at 36,012 points, having briefly dipped below the 36,000 mark at the open. However, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite, which had suffered the biggest losses on Wednesday, was up 0.6%.
Trading was depressed by the Veterans Day holiday, and the lack of economic data or major corporate news overnight has left the market exposed to drift according to sentiment in the near term.
Stocks standing out in early trading included Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), which fell 9.0% after reporting a sharp slowdown in new subscribers for its Disney+ streaming service in the quarter, as well as a disappointing performance from its theme parks, where the summer wave of Covid-19 prevented a more vigorous rebound. Disney's numbers - where its other streaming services ESPN+ and Hulu also fell short of expectations - contrasted sharply with those of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which had surprised to the upside with subscriber numbers over the summer period.
Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) stock also slumped 15% after the dating site reported a drop in active users in the past three months, confirming a pattern also evident in Match Group's (NASDAQ:MTCH) disappointing numbers last week.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) stock was another decliner. The maker of plant-based meat products issued guidance well below Wall Street forecasts for the fourth quarter after reporting that sales to restaurants had fallen in the third quarter, suggesting that the market had been too quick to discount its products going mainstream. The stock fell 17% to its lowest in 19 months.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock eked out a modest gain after filings showed that CEO Elon Musk had sold nearly $5 billion of stock in the last three days. That's enough to cover his looming tax bill triggered by the exercise of options that were previously granted him as compensation, but less than one-third of what he suggested he might sell after his social media poll at the weekend.
Tesla's newest rival in the electric vehicle space, Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN), surged meanwhile by another 11%, adding to the 29% gains it posted on its debut on Wednesday. The electric van maker is now more valuable than either its 5% owner Ford (NYSE:F) or General Motors (NYSE:GM), despite never yet having sold a vehicle.
Fintech stocks enjoyed mixed fortunes, reflecting their respective quarterly updates: SoFi (NASDAQ:SOFI) stock rose 13% after beating estimates for loan growth and revenue, while Paysafe (NYSE:PSFE) stock fell 40% after downbeat guidance on margins and revenue growth.