Stocks Opened Lower after Mixed Earnings

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Thursday as investors grappled with mixed earnings reports from bellwethers such as General Motors, Procter & Gamble and Caterpillar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 39.00 points, or 0.22%, to 17,999.27. The S&P 500 was down 1.35 points, or 0.06%, to 2,106.61. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.47 points, or 0.05%, to 5,032.70.

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits held below 300,000 for the seventh straight week, pointing to a rebound in payrolls after hiring eased last month. Jobless claims increased by 1,000 to 295,000 in the week ended April 18, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington.
General Motors, the nation’s biggest automaker, said Thursday that its net income climbed to $945 million in the first quarter on the strength of vehicle sales in its core North American market. Net revenue in the first quarter was $35.7 billion, down from $37.4 billion during the same period a year ago.

Procter & Gamble said sales declined across all its major business segments in the third quarter as it took a hit from the strong dollar. For the quarter, the maker of Tide, Crest and Pampers reported a profit of $2.15 billion, or 75 cents per share, down from $2.61 billion, or 90 cents per share, a year ago. Sales dropped 8% to $18.14 billion.

Caterpillar Inc., the heavy equipment maker, reported first-quarter profit and sales that were well above expectations, and raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company said net earnings for the latest quarter rose to $1.11 billion, or $1.81 a share, from $922 million, or $1.44 a share, in the same period a year ago.

U.S. and British regulators fined Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) $2.5 billion and its British subsidiary pleaded guilty to criminal wire fraud on Thursday as it became the eighth financial group to settle allegations of rigging interest rate benchmarks.