Market Opens on a Mixed Note- Initial Jobless Claims Fall

The U.S. equity market opened on a mixed note, with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 opening lower, and the Nasdaq opening slightly higher. The Dow Jones opened lower at 11,342.81, the S&P 500 opened lower at 1,213.14 and the Nasdaq opened slightly higher at 2,564.31.

The Labor Department today reported that the initial jobless claims for the week ended November 6 fell. According to figures released by the Labor Department, initial jobless claims for the week ended November 6 fell by 24,000 to 435,000, beating economists’ expectation.

The Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. trade deficit for September narrowed, however, was still above last year’s gap. According to figures released by the Commerce Department, the U.S. trade deficit dropped 5.3% to $4 billion in September.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) today reported its third-quarter financial results. The second-biggest U.S. department-store chain reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Excluding one-time items, the company reported third-quarter profit if $0.08 per share, beating analysts’ estimate of a profit of $0.04 per share. For the same period in 2009, the company reported a loss of $0.03 per share. The company’s net income for the third quarter of 2010 was $10 million, or $0.02 per share, compared with a net loss of $35 million, or $0.08 per share reported in the third quarter of 2009. Shares of Macy’s Inc. are currently down 1.59% to $24.82, after opening at $25.33.