Investors are still mostly sitting on their hand. Stocks were flat Thursday despite lackluster reports on the global economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all barely budged in early trading.
Economic news didn’t sway investors all that much. The U.S. government said the consumer price index, the benchmark for inflation, rose 0.1% in January, which was slightly below what economists had predicted. Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment benefits fell last week.
In corporate news, Facebook shares edged lower after the social networking company said Wednesday it had bought messaging platform WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock.
Despite the eye-popping price tag, analysts say the deal makes sense. WhatsApp gives Facebook access to the global text-messaging market, which should help the social network retain its younger users. Goldman Sachs said they believed the acquisition “will help drive increased engagement.”
The deal raised speculation that other companies with text-messaging services might be able to cash in as well. Shares of the troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry, which operates the BBM messaging service, were up more than 5%. Interestingly, BlackBerry and Facebook are the two best-performing stocks in CNNMoney’s Tech 30 index this year.
Tesla shares soared to a new all-time high after the company reported much stronger than expected profits and said it will sell 55% more vehicles this year than in 2013.
Shares in BAE Systems were down after the defense contractor warned that U.S. budget cuts would hurt earnings in 2014.
Safeway shares gained after the supermarket chain’s management announced they are in talks to sell the company.
Wal-Mart reported quarterly results that topped expectations, but shares of the retail chain fell after it warned that “economic factors” would weigh on sales this year.
Hewlett-Packard, Groupon and Priceline.com are among the companies reporting earnings after the bell.
European markets were under pressure. Most Asian markets closed with losses.
HSBC’s preliminary reading of Chinese manufacturing activity fell to a seven-month low in February. A survey of European purchasing managers also came in weaker than analysts were expecting.
