By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened mixed on Thursday, in a modest bounce from three straight days of losses after mixed economic data reassured market participants that the risk of the Federal Reserve withdrawing its stimulus this year was vanishingly smalll.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's main index of business conditions fell sharply to 52.7 from 66.6, according to data released earlier Wednesday, while the manufacturing index plummeted to 31.5 from over 50 a month ago. The index for prices paid by manufacturers hit a new 40-year high, but the indices for new orders and employment in manufacturing both fell
Combined with an unexpected rise in continuing jobless claims in the week through May 8, the numbers lent weight to the idea that evidence of the economy overheating is likely to be short-lived.
Sentiment was also supported by a more vigorous rebound in crypto assets, relieving the pressure on many retail portfolios that had led to forced selling by leveraged accounts in Wednesday’s rout. Proxies for crypto exposure all recovered partially, with Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) stock rising 2.3%, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) stock rising 6.0% and Square (NYSE:SQ) stock rising 1.4%.
By 9:40 AM ET (1340 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was effectively flat at 33,873 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.9%.
Among individual movers, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) stock fell 2.8% amid concerns that its strong last quarter could represent a cyclical high point. The maker of networking equipment said it expected margin pressure from the global chip shortage to last throughout the year. Ford.. another company to be hit by the global chip shortage, rose 4.4% stock, as the encouraging presentation of its electric F-150 model on Wednesday outweighed the news that it will have to stop production in a number of plants again in June.
Retail stocks were again in focus after the latest round of quarterly earnings. Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) stock fell 6.9% in response to news of a quarterly loss, driven largely by renewed lockdowns in Europe. The company nonetheless reinstated its dividend. Kohls (NYSE:KSS) stock fell over 11% after a swing back to profit and increased guidance for the full year failed to keep up with expectations that had already generated a 50% rally in the stock this year.
Among the gainers, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) jumped 13.5% after confirming that its repeatedly delayed test flight will go ahead on May 22 as planned. The stock is still well down from its February highs, however, after a sharp sell-off caused by the exit of key insiders such as Richard Branson and 'SPAC King' Chamath Palihapitiya.