Stocks opened narrowly higher Thursday, but trading turned narrowly mixed in the second quarter's final day of trade.
Dow industrials rose 0.1% while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were a hair lower. The Russell 2000 fell 0.1%.
Notable early moves came from Bank of America (BAC), Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF), Mobileye (MBLY) and Priceline Group (PCLN).
Jobless Claims Rise
First-time unemployment claims jumped to 268,000 in the week ended June 25, the Labor Department reported. That was up a bit more than 3% from the prior week's claims, and a nudge above consensus predictions for 266,000 claims. The four-week moving average eased to 266,750 -- its fourth straight decline.
The volatile Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for June jumped to 56.8 from May's 49.3, back above the neutral 50 level.
St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard speaks at 2 p.m. ET.
Banks, Lions Gate, Mobileye
The U.S. banking sector received a generally healthy report card from the Federal Reserve's stress test results, released after Wednesday's close. The report freed banks to reapportion varying levels of capital, resulting in a string of dividend hikes and stock buyback announcements late in the day. But Bank of America fell fractionally. while Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan (JPM) rose fractionally.
Deutsche Bank (DB), which saw its capital plan rejected and was signaled out as the top global financial risk by the IMF, dropped nearly 4%.
U.K.-based banks trading in the U.S., which have been volatile since last Thursday's Brexit vote, were under pressure, with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) down 5%, Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) off 3%, and Barclays (BCS) showing a 2% loss.
Wine and spirits producer Constellation Brands (STZ) improved 2% after a better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter report. The big-cap stock is below a 165.91 buy point in a flat base.
Filmmaker Lions Gate Entertainment spiked in the premarket, but turned nearly 2% lower, and Starz (STRZA) vaulted 12%. Lions Gate confirmed plans to acquire the premium television network in a deal worth $4.4 billion.
Mobileye surged nearly 11% after Bloomberg reported the Israel-based maker of autonomous vehicle technologies had teamed with Intel (INTC) in an agreement to produce self-driving cars with Germany's BMW (BAMXY).
Oil, Gold, Dollar, Overseas Markets
Oil accelerated its early losses, dropping more than 2%. West Texas Intermediate dropped below $49 a barrel. Brent crude undercut $50. Gold futures slipped a half-percent to trade around $1,321 an ounce. The dollar slipped against the yen, but reversed course and rose vs. the euro. Bonds edged up, trimming 2 basis points from the 10-year Treasury yield, to 1.50%.
Europe's markets were quietly higher near midday. The CAC 40 in Paris led the major indexes, up 0.8%.
Markets in Asia posted a mixed session Thursday. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.8%, and the Shanghai composite whittled a 0.1% loss.
