Thursday Closing Bell: Markets Slip Further after Low Open; Twitter Rules

November 7, 2013: U.S. markets opened roughly flat Thursday morning ignoring decent economic news today on fewer new jobless claims, coupled with a 2.8% GDP growth rate and a cut to the European Central Bank’s key interest rate to obsess over the initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR).

European closed mixed today while Latin American and Asian markets closed lower.

Friday’s calendar includes speeches by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams, and the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Employment situation
• 8:30 a.m. – Personal income and outlays
• 9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Reuters consumer confidence index
• 10:00 a.m. – Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)

Here are the closing bell levels for Thursday:

• S&P500 1747.16 (-23.32; -1.32%)
• DJIA 15594.87 (-152.07; -0.97%)
• NASDAQ 3857.33 (-74.61; -1.90%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.608% (+0.34375)
• Gold $1,308.50 (-9.30; -0.7%)
• WTI Crude oil $94.20 (-0.60; -0.6%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3419 (-0.0095; -0.70%)

Big Earnings Movers: SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) is down 16.7% at $49.71 after providing weak guidance with earnings last night. Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is down 3.7% at $67.15 after a mixed earnings report last night. Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) is down 11.2% at $57.27 as the store tries to shed its luxury image. Himax Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is down 10.2% at $8.50 on weak guidance.

Stocks on the Move: Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWIT) opened at $45.10, about 70% higher than its IPO price of $26, but posted only a small gain to close at $44.94, down 0.42%, after hitting $50.09 early in the day. Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) is up 44.8% at $5.21 following a good report on its myelofibrosis drug.

In all, 117 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 39 stocks posted new lows.