US stocks open lower impacted by decline in oil and European equities
On Thursday U.S. stocks opened lower, retreating from near-record levels as oil prices pulled back. Investors also took into consideration a decline in European equities, as investors digested domestic data and eyed renewed worries about Greece.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 8 points, or 0.05 percent, at 18,097, with UnitedHealth leading blue chip advancers and Microsoft the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 opened down 3 points, or 0.15 percent, at 2,103, with energy the greatest of seven laggards and consumer sectors leading advancers.
The Nasdaq opened down 8 points, or 0.16 percent, at 5,002.
U.S. March housing starts indicated a 0.926 million unit rate, below expectations but above February's 0.908 million unit rate. The usual weekly initial jobless claims came in at 294,000, above expectations and a slight growth from the prior week. The Philadelphia Fed's business outlook index for April is due at at 10 a.m, says CNBC.
When on Wednesday European Central Bank head Mario Draghi was questioned about Greece, after the central bank opted to keep interest rates unchanged, he said he was unready to accept a default by Greece and dismissed fears of a bubble in bond markets.
