Stocks Opened Mixed, Twitter Soared after Results

U.S. stocks opened mixed on Thursday, as investors weighed expectations for rising inflation and bond yields against an economic backdrop that is seen as solid. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 161.92 points, or 0.65%, to 24,731.43. The S&P 500 dropped 11.30 points, or 0.42%, to 2,670.36. The Nasdaq Composite lost 23.69 points, or 0.34%, to 7,028.29.

Oil prices fell to their lowest in six weeks on Thursday after data showed U.S. crude output had reached record highs and the North Sea’s largest crude pipeline reopened following an outage. Brent crude futures dropped 58 cents to $64.93 a barrel by 1157 GMT, having hit a 2018 low of $64.77 earlier. U.S. futures fell 48 cents to $61.31 a barrel.

Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) reported its first quarterly profit and better-than-expected revenue, helped by ads that better targeted users and sales growth outside the United States. Overall revenue rose 2 percent year-over-year to $731.6 million, the first increase since the fourth quarter of 2016. Twitter reported a net profit of $91.1 million, or 12 cents per share, compared to a loss of $167.1 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended Feb. 3, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims fell to 216,000 in mid-January, which was the lowest level since January 1973.

BitPesa, the blockchain payments platform in Africa and Europe, which now facilitates nearly $20 million in transactions per month, has acquired TransferZero, an international money transfer platform. TransferZero specializes in sending money to consumers and companies in 200 countries using over 50 different currencies.