Wall Street little changed after earnings deluge

Wall Street stocks were little changed early Thursday, essentially pausing after the volatility earlier in the week as markets digested a trove of mostly solid corporate earnings.

Thursday's deluge of results included reports from airlines, biotech companies, homebuilders, chemical companies, industrials and technology.

Most reported "positive earnings surprises," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, adding that "the good earnings news cut across industry groups and sectors."

Meanwhile, new applications for US unemployment benefit saw a surprise uptick last week, climbing to 419,000, an increase of 51,000 over the previous week.

Analysts said the rise could show the impact of the Covid-19 Delta variant.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 34,719.83, down 0.2 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.1 percent to 4,354.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent at 14,648.90.

Stocks rallied the last two days after tumbling on Monday on worries about the Delta variant.

"The markets appear to be coming to terms with the potential disruption from the global spreading of the Delta coronavirus variant and the likelihood that we may have reached peak earnings and economic growth rates," said a note from Charles Schwab.