NEW YORK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday as investors meditated on a slew of generally negative economic reports.
U.S. private sector employment increased by 158,000 jobs from May to June, well below market consensus of 180,000, said the June ADP National Employment Report Thursday.
The ADP report is often seen as a preview for the closely-watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due out on Friday.
In the week ending July 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims increased by 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 248,000, exceeding market estimates, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
The four-week moving average was 243,000, an increase of 750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 242,250.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday that the goods and services deficit was 46.5 billion U.S. dollars in May, down 1.1 billion dollars from the April's revised reading.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.21 points, or 0.25 percent, to 21,424.96. The S&P 500 lost 9.50 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,423.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 39.53 points, or 0.64 percent, to 6,111.33.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed mixed as Wall Street pondered over the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting. Enditem
