U.S. stocks open lower on earnings reports, data

U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, as investors assessed a heavy day of earnings and some economic data.

Facebook fell 0.49 percent to 84.21 U.S. dollars per share in early Thursday, a day after its posting of quarterly revenue that missed analysts' estimates.

General Motors delivered quarterly profit and revenue that missed expectations Thursday, causing its shares dropped over 3 percent in the early session.

PepsiCo reported quarterly earnings that beat markets' expectations. But its quarterly net revenue declined 3 percent from a year earlier, reflecting the impact of adverse foreign exchange translation. Shares were down 1.27 percent in the early trading.

In the week ending April 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 295,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 50.48 points, or 0.28 percent, to 17,987.79. The S&P 500 shed 3.09 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,104.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 9.62 points, or 0.19 percent, to 5,025.55.

U.S. stocks posted sizable gains Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index closing at the highest level since its March 2000 peak, as economic data came in positive. Endi