U.S. stocks open lower Thursday; Caterpillar announces job cuts

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 1.51 (0.08 percent) to 1,941.23, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.62 (0.03 percent) to 4,755.10.

Investors sought shelter in assets perceived as safe, including USA government debt. “On net, our third quarter GDP tracking estimate fell one-tenth to 2.2%”.

The Nasdaq is down 92.75 points, or 1.9 percent.

Stocks remain stuck in low gear following a late-August selloff, and last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve to keep rates near zero affirmed investor fears that growth had hit a rough patch.

Wall Street also lost ground on Wednesday, dragged down by economic reports portraying USA factory growth as tepid and China in its worst manufacturing contraction since the global financial crisis.

Shanghai shares trimmed a chunk of early gains and were up only 0.3 percent as of 0511 GMT, reflecting how investor confidence in the economy remains wobbly at best, while South Korea’s Kospi nudged up 0.2 percent.

BMW shares fell 5.2 per cent in Frankfurt after a magazine reported that emissions of a model of the German vehicle maker were higher than allowed under standardized testing conditions.

Stocks fell Thursday as investors grow concerned over the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged due to a slowing global economy.

United States stocks were firmly in the red early on Thursday, ahead of a widely anticipated speech from Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen.

In economic news, initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 267,000 in the week ended September 19, the Labor Department said Thursday, a level consistent with an improving labor market.

The market fell sharply at the open, pushing stocks close to their lowest levels of the month, before rebounding during afternoon trading to close with only slight losses. This matched the expectation of market analysts.

In commodities trading, benchmark US crude rose 43 cents to $44.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro rose 0.5% against the dollar to trade around $1.1240, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday the central bank is ready to expand its quantitative easing program, but that there is no urgency to do so.