Stocks Opened Lower; Microsoft to Cut Jobs

U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, as mixed earnings and economic data sparked a flight to safe assets.The
Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 26.79 points, or 0.16%, to 17,111.41. The S&P 500 shed 4.32 points, or 0.22%, to 1,977.25. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8.32 points, or 0.19%, to 4,417.65.

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it will slash up to 18,000 jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce, this year as
it trims its newly acquired Nokia phone business and tries to transform into a cloud-computing and mobile-
friendly software company.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting the labor market recovery was gaining traction. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 for the week ended July 12, the Labor Department said.

Construction on new U.S. homes tumbled in June to the slowest pace in nine months,  missing analysts’estimates. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that housing starts fell 9.3% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 893,000, led by drops for single-family homes and apartments.

Morgan Stanley said Thursday that it recorded $8.6 billion in second quarter revenue, up 1% over the prior-year period and beating the analyst consensus by more than $400 million. Net income for the quarter came in at $1.86 billion, a 131% increase over the $803 million in net earnings during the second quarter of 2013 and a figure that resulted in an earnings-per-share of 94 cents, a 129% increase over the year-ago quarter.

Blackstone Group LP on Thursday said its second-quarter earnings more than doubled. The New York firm reported second-quarter profit of $517 million, or 85 cents a share, up from $211 million, or 36 cents a share, in the same period last year.