Stocks Opened Lower after Trump’s Speech

U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday as the market focuses on a lack of policy detail in President-elect Donald Trump’s first formal news conference. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 109.25 points, or 0.55%, to 19,845.03. The S&P 500 shed 10.21 points, or 0.45%, to 2,265.11. The Nasdaq Composite fell 34.10 points, or 0.61%, to 5,529.55.

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in the first week of 2017 rose by 10,000 to 247,000, but they remain near the lowest level in decades.

The cost of imported goods rose at the fastest pace in four years at the end of 2016, largely because of higher oil prices that have added to some upward pressure on inflation as they rose. The import-price index increased 0.4% in December, the second sizable move in three months, the government reported Thursday.

Oil prices rose on Thursday, supported by reports that key members of OPEC were starting to cut production as promised and by forecasts of strong demand growth in China. Brent crude was up 70 cents at $55.80 a barrel by 1135 GMT. U.S. crude was up 60 cents at $52.85.

Amazon will create 100,000 full-time jobs in the United States with full benefits over the next 18 months, the tech giant announced in a statement Thursday.

Delta Air Lines Inc on Thursday reported a 36.5 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit and forecast passenger unit revenue to be flat to up 2 percent in early 2017. Net income fell to $622 million, or 84 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $980 million, or $1.25 per share, a year earlier.