Stocks Opened Flat, Earnings Eyed

U.S. stocks opened flat on Thursday as investors digested the latest round of corporate earnings. The Dow
Jones industrial average lately fell 17.96 points, or 0.11 percent, to 15,600.80. The S&P 500 lost 1.61
points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,761.70 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.49 points, or 0.27 percent, to
3,920.13.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s quarterly profit fell 18 percent from last year, but the oil and gas giant still made
nearly $8 billion in three months. Its third-quarter net income was $7.87 billion, or $1.79 per share. That
compared with $9.57 billion, or $2.09 per share, a year earlier. Revenue dipped 2 percent to $112.37
billion.

ConocoPhillips (COP) expects about $8.9 billion in proceeds from the sale of assets in Kazakhstan, Algeria
and Nigeria and reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit due to higher oil and gas prices.

U.S. jobless claims fall in better news for labour market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits
dropped by 10,0000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Facebook Inc. spooked investors with warnings that it may be nearing the limits of one of its most important areas of revenue growth. After reporting strong third-quarter financial results, Facebook executives told analysts that they may not be able to

High debt levels and weak job prospects have made it hard for many young, educated Americans to buy homes, and that could be a drag on the housing market for years to come.

Banks using bespoke models for determining how much capital they hold to cover trading book risks should also use a standardised approach as a backstop, global regulators said on Thursday.