Dow dips despite benign jobless data

Stocks in New York were mixed in early trading on Thursday as fears over the number of US unemployed calmed.

The Department of Labor said weekly initial jobless claims were 621,000 last week, compared to a revised 625,000 the week before. Expectations were for 620,000 claims, lower than anticipated.

Investors are also awaiting government unemployment data for May, which is due for release tomorrow.

Less than two hours after opening, the Dow Jones had fallen almost 30 points, or 0.34%, to 8,645.8.

Financials were higher. Citigroup was up 0.08 points, or 2.36%, to $3.47, while JPMorgan Chase advanced 0.59 points, or 1.72%, to $34.57.

Elsewhere, Alcoa dipped 1.99% to $10.27 and Hewlett Packard dropped 0.42 points, or 1.18%, to $36.05.

Retailers, however, were generally weaker as nervousness about sales figures surfaced. Home Depot fell 0.52 points, or 2.13%, to $23.85 while Wal Mart Stores also suffered.

In London, miners continued to weigh on the FTSE, which showed little reaction to a Bank of England decision to freeze interest rates at 0.5%.

As of shortly after 3.30pm, the index was down more than 16 points, or 0.37%, to 4,367.22.

Rio Tinto slumped 253p, or 8.69%, to £26.59 while Lonmin fell 124p, or 8.21%, to £13.86. Elsewhere Kazakhmys dropped 44p, or 6.29%, to 655p and Fresnillo lost 39p, or 5.35%, to 689.5p.

Commercial property manager Liberty International led the afternoon winners, gaining 20.5p, or 5.47%, to 395.5p.

ICAP advanced 14.5p, or 3.52%, to 426p, while Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Shire and Aviva also posted between 2% and 3% gains.

scott.sinclair@incisivemedia.com