U.S. stocks mixed after weak jobless claims; Dow Jones down 0.10%

U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday, after downbeat U.S. jobless data and as concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone continued to weigh on market sentiment.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.10%, the S&P 500 index eased up 0.02%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.46%.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose unexpectedly, climbing above 400,000 for the first time in three weeks.

Market sentiment found support earlier, after well received French and Spanish bond auctions. Spain’s Treasury auctioned the full targeted amount of EUR3.75 billion of government bonds, while France auctioned EUR4.5 billion of debt.

But investors remained jittery after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said downside risks to the economic outlook have increased.

Yahoo surged 4.04% on reports that a consortium including Blackstone, Bain, Alibaba and Softbank have started formal discussions about a bid for the search-engine company for about USD25 billion.

Elsewhere, Macy’s saw shares jump 1.05%, Limited Brands advanced 0.59% and Buckle rose 0.25%, due to strong Black Friday sales.

Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor was up 0.45 %, as it was hoping to hold on to at least a third of the 3 million Americans who take the high-selling cholesterol fighter, as the medication went generic on Wednesday.

On the downside, shares in Lululemon Athletica plummeted 13.54% after the yoga apparel retailer said sales growth in existing stores declined and added it saw no substantial pickup in the current quarter.

Financial stocks were also broadly lower, reversing Wednesday’s strong rally posted after the Federal Reserve and five other central banks lowered the cost of dollar funding.

Shares in Citigroup tumbled 1.42% and Goldman Sachs slumped 1.20%, while JP Morgan and Bank of America declined 0.84% and 0.55% respectively.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.07%, France’s CAC 40 eased up 0.06%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.14%, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.71%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index soared 5.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.95%.

Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.

EUR/USD up at the end of U.S. session

The Euro was higher against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday after the release of U.S. data on Initial Jobless Claims.

EUR/USD was trading at 1.3464, up 0.13% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.3260, Wednesday’s low, and resistance at 1.3532, Wednesday’s high.

Earlier in the day, official data showed that U.S. Initial Jobless Claims rose unexpectedly to a seasonally adjusted 402K last week from 396K in the preceding week whose figure was revised up from 393K.

Analysts had expected Initial Jobless Claims to fall to 390K last week.

Meanwhile, the Euro was up against the British Pound and the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.20% to hit 0.8582 and EUR/JPY rising 0.23% to hit 104.61.

U.S. markets mixed at close; Dow Jones down 0.21% ..

U.S. stocks were mixed after the closing bell on Thursday.

At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.21%, the S&P 500 index shed 0.19%, while the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 0.61%.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, European stock markets closed lower. France’s CAC 40 was down 0.78%; Germany’s DAX shed 0.87%; Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.29%; and the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.71%.