Stocks Slide Into The Red

Markets have erased early gains.

The S&P 500 has just barely gone into the red.

There isn't a whole lot of market-moving news today.

Initial weekly jobless claims tumbled to 289,000 from 303,000 a week ago. This was lower than the 304,000 expected by economists.

This week's report brings the 4-week moving average down to 293,500, the lowest level since February 2006.

The 4-week average for continuing claims fell 17k, to 2.519 million, the lowest level since July 2007.

"The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.9% for the fourth straight week," noted Barclays' Dean Maki. "Overall, this report shows that layoffs remain subdued and is consistent with solid job growth.