Stocks open lower on Wall Street, Treasury yields climb

New York: Stocks are opening broadly lower on Wall Street and Treasury yields continued to climb.

The S&P 500 index gave up 0.8 per cent in the first few minutes of trading Thursday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down slightly more, 1.1 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also pulled back 0.8 per cent. Dow component Walmart slumped 6 per cent after reporting weaker results than analysts were expecting.

Another weak report on the job market also discouraged investors.

The government reported that applications for jobless benefits rose last week to 861,000.

That’s the latest indication that layoffs remain high as coronavirus shutdowns keep many business closed.