US Stocks Open Lower Thursday          04/22 09:27

   Stocks are slightly lower Thursday, pulled down by banks and technology 
companies. Investors continue to focus on individual companies as the quarterly 
earnings reporting season rolls on.

   (AP) -- Stocks are slightly lower Thursday, pulled down by banks and 
technology companies. Investors continue to focus on individual companies as 
the quarterly earnings reporting season rolls on.

   The S&P 500 was down 0.3% as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq was down 0.4%. The S&P 500 closed higher 
Wednesday, ending a two-day slide, but it's still down for the week.

   Investors got another dose of company earnings on Thursday. AT&T rose 4% 
after reporting results that beat expectations, helped by higher wireless phone 
charges as well as the success of its streaming service HBOMax.

   Whirlpool and Equifax also rose after reporting strong results. Union 
Pacific fell after the railroad operator reported a 9% drop in profit.

   Credit Suisse dropped 3.5% after the Swiss bank announced it would issue 
more stock to help it recover from the losses it suffered because of the 
implosion of a hedge fund earlier this year. Credit Suisse had been a primary 
backer of Archegos Capital Management, which collapsed last month after several 
of its bets went sour.

   Investors will be looking to Intel after the closing bell when the chip 
giant reports its quarterly results.

   Investors got a bit of good news on the economy when the Labor Department 
reported that the number of Americans filing for unemployment fell again last 
week. Unemployment claims were 547,000, the lowest point since the pandemic 
struck and an encouraging sign that layoffs are slowing.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 1.56%.