US stocks down despite positive data, volatility back

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indexes on the US stock market opened lower on Thursday despite positive macroeconomic data but volatility is back to worry investors.

The Dow Jones fell 111 points to 34,025 with JPMorgan sliding 0.8% and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs shedding 0.3% each.

The S&P 500 was off 9 points to 4,162 at 9.34 a.m. EDT (1334GMT), while the Nasdaq shaved 5 points to 13,944.

Initial jobless claims fell to a new low level of 547,000, marking the third time it is below 700,000 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Labor Department.

Despite its earlier decline to 16.99, VIX volatility index jumped to 17.51, heading for an increase for the fourth consecutive day.

While Bitcoin was struggling to find support just above $55,000, it was the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, that made headlines by jumping to an all-time high of $2,594 with a 10% increase.