Oil prices moved lower Thursday morning as markets remain concerned about falling demand, especially in China due to COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped $1.51, or 1.5%, to $100.50 a barrel.<\/p>\n
Brent futures fell $1.75, or 1.7%, to $103.57 a barrel.<\/p>\n
Traders will be watching as for the first estimate of 1Q GDP. The Refinitiv forecast is for a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 1.1%, down sharply from the fourth quarter’s 6.9% growth rate.<\/p>\n
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo\/Richard Drew)<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time the Labor Department is out with its count of new claims for unemployment benefits for last week. Expectations are for 180,000, down slightly from 184,000 the previous week and holding at pre-pandemic levels. It would also mark the 10th week that claims came in below 200,000. Continuing claims, which track the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits, are anticipated to decline to 1.403 million.<\/p>\n US ECONOMIC GROWTH MAY HIT THE SKIDS<\/strong><\/p>\n It will also be a big day for earnings. Dow members Merck, Caterpillar and McDonald’s are scheduled to report earnings ahead of the opening bell, while Apple and Intel will report after markets close. <\/p>\n Numbers are expected from Twitter, which is in the process of being acquired by Elon Musk. Amazon will also report after the closing bell. <\/p>\n Bitcoin traded around $39,000.<\/p>\n In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.4% and China's Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6%.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the S&P 500 saw most of a midday rally evaporate and wound up with a gain of just 0.2%, at 4,183.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also added 0.2%, to 33,301.93. The Nasdaq was barely changed at 12,488.93.<\/p>\n Software giant Microsoft rose 4.8% after reporting strong profits for its most recent quarter. Payments processing giant Visa jumped 6.5% after reporting a surge in profits fueled by a large jump in spending on the company’s namesake credit and debit card network.<\/p>\n Alphabet, Google's parent company, fell 3.7%, after posting its slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2020. <\/p>\n FACEBOOK PARENT META'S SHARES JUMP DESPITE REVENUE SLOWDOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n Facebook's parent company Meta, jumped 14.6% in after-hours trading following its latest quarterly earnings, which topped Wall Street's estimates.<\/p>\n Ford Motor Co. reported Wednesday that it lost $3.1 billion in the first quarter, weighed down by its investment in an electric-vehicle startup, and its revenue slid as a shortage of chips limited the supply of pickups and SUVs in North America. Results adjusted for certain items topped expectations, sending shares up 1% in after-hours trading.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/931\/523\/AP19303526089641.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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\n \nTicker<\/th>\n Security<\/th>\n Last<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n Change %<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n I:DJI<\/td>\n DOW JONES AVERAGES<\/td>\n 33301.93<\/td>\n +61.75<\/td>\n +0.19%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n SP500<\/td>\n S&P 500<\/td>\n 4183.96<\/td>\n +8.76<\/td>\n +0.21%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n I:COMP<\/td>\n NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX<\/td>\n 12488.933118<\/td>\n -1.81<\/td>\n -0.01%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n