US stocks stumble

US stocks on Thursday moved mostly lower in early trade following mixed corporate earnings and economic data. About 40 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15.57 (0.09 per cent) to 16,565.27, retreating slightly from an all-time high reached on Wednesday. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 1.79 (0.10%) to 1,882.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 2.52 (0.06%) to 4,117.08. US consumer spending jumped 0.9% in March, the largest increase in nearly five years, government data showed. But a report on weekly jobless claims showed a rise of 14,000 to 344,000, worse than analysts expected. Dow member ExxonMobil reported earnings of $2.10 per share, above the $1.88 forecast by Wall Street analysts. But revenues missed expectations and the company reported a 5.6% fall in oil and gas production. Exxon shares fell 0.8%. Satellite TV firm DirecTV got a lift from a Wall Street Journal report that said it was approached by a potential acquirer, US telecoms giant AT&T, in a deal that could be worth $40 billion. DirecTV rose 6.1%, while AT&T dipped 0.1%. Ford Motor announced that Alan Mulally will step down as chief executive on July 1, and named chief operating officer Mark Fields to replace him. Mulally, a former Boeing executive, is credited with a successful turnaround of the US’s second-biggest automaker. Ford also said its US sales declined one per cent in April. Ford shares fell 0.4%. General Motors got a lift from its April report, which showed total US sales rose 7% from a year ago. Shares increased 1.7%. Yelp, an online reviews and listing site, raised its full-year profit guidance as it notched a 30% year-over-year rise in average monthly users to 132 million. Shares jumped 9.8%. Bond prices were unchanged. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.65%, the same level as Wednesday. The 30-year was also flat at 3.46%, according to AFP.