U.S. stocks slightly lower at midday amid jobless claims, earnings results

U.S. stocks drifted lower in the morning session on Thursday, as investors were digesting the jobless claims data and the in-coming first-quarter results.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 20.52 points, or 0.11 percent, to 17,881.99. The S&P 500 edged down 1.10 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,080.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.23 points, or 0.15 percent, to 4,943.59.

In the week ending April 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 281,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level, but below market consensus of 285,000, according to U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

Investors were still mulling over the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting released Wednesday afternoon. The minutes showed that Fed policymakers had differences on the first rate hike. Several Fed officials thought that the U.S. central bank would be able to raise interest rates in June, and the others believed a rate hike wouldn't be warranted until later in the year.

Aluminum company Alcoa unofficially kicked off the first- quarter earnings season Wednesday after the closing bell, by swinging to a profit although its revenues missed analysts' expectations. Its shares dropped 4.43 percent around midday Thursday.

According to Thomson Reuters, the blended earnings in the first quarter of 2015 are expected to decline 2.7 percent year on year, while the revenue is forecast to decrease 2.6 percent. Excluding the energy sector, however, the earnings growth estimate is a 5.6- percent gain, with a revenue increase of 2.9 percent. Endite