Wall Street opens mostly flat following jobless data surprise

The main indices on Wall Street started Thursday’s session on a somewhat static note following worse than expected jobless claims data. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.03% at 34,044, while the S&P 500 inched up 0.02% to 4,224 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.07% to 14,029. The mostly neutral start followed an 37,000 increase in weekly US jobless claims to 412,000 last week, confounding analysts who had expected a drop to 360,000 from 376,000 the previous week. This is the first rise since late April. The four week moving average, however, was down 8,000 to 395,000, the lowest level since March 14 last year. 7:40am: Wall Street set for lower start Wall Street is expected to open lower after the US Federal Reserve last night revealed itself to be more hawkish on interest rates and the strength of the economy than had been expected. Sophie Griffiths, market analyst at Oanda, said: "The US central bank now expects two interest rate hikes in 2023, up from zero in the last meeting. Even more significantly, seven policymakers out of 17 expect at least one hike in 2022. The Fed upwardly revised its growth and inflation outlook. In short, the Federal Reserve sees the US economy recovering at a faster pace than before, warranting an acceleration towards policy normalisation." In the wake of the Fed meeting, the three main US indices fell back and are forecast to continue that trend today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to drop 95 points or 0.27% while the S&P 500 is expected to lose 0.31% and the Nasdaq Composite is indicated 0.48% lower. The main data for the day is the weekly jobless claim numbers. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefit is forecast to keep falling, down to 360,000 last week from 376,000 the previous week. Elsewhere CureVac BV is down 46% in pre-market trading on Nasdaq after the German pharmaceutical group revealed disappointing results for its COVID-19 vaccine. Its jab is only 47% effective, one of the worst results from any of the current crop of vaccines. Four things to watch for on Thursday: Companies in the earnings diary today include software firm Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE), grocery giant Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) and design engineering group Jabil Inc (NYSE:JBL) Genetics firm 23andMe will be in focus as the company begins its first day of trading on the Nasdaq Aircraft maker Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) may also draw attention after its troubled 737 MAX plane was hit with demands for repeated tests on its flight control systems by the US aviation regulator On the macro front, aside from the jobless figures, there will also be the latest Philly manufacturing index for investors to take a look at