Stocks in the Red After Claims Data, Earnings

U.S. stocks started higher but quickly fell into negative territory on Thursday as investors considered
earnings and data that had jobless claims little changed last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
lately was down 32.23 points, or 0.22%, at 14,586.36. The S&P 500 index fell 3.29 points, or 0.21%, to
1,548.72. The Nasdaq Composite was off 9.85 points, or 0.31%, to 3,194.82.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week. Initial
claims for state unemployment benefits increased 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 352,000 the Labor
Department said on Thursday.

Verizon Communications (VZ) reported quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ expectations driven by
growth in its wireless business on Thursday, but revenue came in a bit light. The company posted first-
quarter earnings excluding items of 68 cents per share, up from 59 cents a share in the year-earlier
period. Revenue rose to $29.42 billion from $28.24 billion a year ago.

Strong gains in its global wealth management and securities units helped Morgan Stanley (MS) swing to a
profit in the first quarter, the firm reported on Thursday, beating Wall Street’s expectations. Revenue
improved to $8.475 billion from $6.94 billion a year ago.

Germany’s economy is bouncing back from a downturn at the end of last year, according to the country’s
leading economic research institutes.The institutes foresee unemployment falling to an average of 6.7
percent for 2013 from 6.8 percent in 2012.