New York Stock Markets Opened Lower on Thursday

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New York stock markets opened lower on Thursday, taking a step back from the recent boom that pushed the broad S&P 500 and the technology gauge Nasdaq to new records.

Investors on Wall Street focused mainly on figures on weekly distribution claims in the United States.

The Dow Jones index fell a fraction in the first trading minutes to 29,099 points. The broad-based S&P 500 was lowered 0.6 percent to 3559 points, and tech exchange Nasdaq lost 1.7 percent to 11,854 points.

The number of Americans who turned to the government for unemployment benefits fell again last week to below 1 million. According to the US government, 881,000 applications were filed. That was more than a million a week earlier.

Economists had expected an average of 950,000 applications. Incidentally, the data is somewhat distorted because a change was made in the adjustment for seasonal influences.

Tech companies such as iPhone maker Apple, chip company Nvidia, software maker Adobe and video streaming service Netflix fell to 3.7 percent. It is precisely such companies that have been the driving force behind the rise of the New York stock markets in recent days.