U.S. stocks tick down on rising yields

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks extended losses in the morning session on Thursday as the rise in yields continued to weigh on the market.

Around midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 341.65 points, or 1.37 percent, to 24,551.70. The S&P 500 dropped 28.43 points, or 1.06 percent, to 2,653.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 82.57 points, or 1.17 percent, to 6,969.41.

Analysts said the rising bonds yields dented investor sentiment. The country's 10-year yield nearly surpassed a 4-year high of 2.885 percent in the morning trading Thursday, a level that helped trigger a global sell-off in equity markets on Monday.

On the economic front, in the week ending Feb. 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 230,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 224,500, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 234,500. This is the lowest level for this average since March 10, 1973 when it was 222,000.

In corporate news, shares of Twitter soared over 16 percent around midday on Thursday, after the social network delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and reported its first-ever quarter of profitability.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 are expected to rise by 14.3 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase by 7.8 percent.

U.S. stocks declined Wednesday after fluctuating between gains and losses, as investors became cautious amid rising bond yields. Enditem