US stocks fall as jobless claims drop and railroad union deal averts strike

• US stocks slipped in Thursday morning trades as investors digested a slate of news and economic data.
• Jobless claims fell for a fifth straight week to 213,000, below economist estimates for 227,000.
• Meanwhile, a deal was struck with railroad unions to avoid a shutdown of freight train travel.

US stocks moved lower in Thursday trades despite solid economic data and a resolution to the railroad union disputes.

Weekly jobless claims fell for a fifth straight week last week to 213,000. That's below economist estimates for 227,000 in jobless claims, and it's a sign that the labor market remains strong as businesses look to fill empty positions.

Separately, concerns of a railroad strike were averted on Thursday after President Joe Biden announced that unions struck a deal with their respective railroad companies.

A potential strike of long-haul freight rail would have been devastating to the economy, as railroads are responsible for moving about 25% of the economy's goods. Estimates suggested that a railroad strike would cost the US economy $2 billion per day.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 3,935.59, down 0.26%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 31,079.77, down 0.18% (55.32 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,692.90, down 0.23%

Here's what else is happening this morning:

• Railroad stocks surged after unions struck a deal to avert a strike, with CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific all gaining about 3%.

• Apple has unseated Tesla as the most-shorted US stock - after Elon Musk's EV company held the title for 864 days, according to data from S3 Partners.

• The founder of Patagonia is giving away his billion dollar company and ensuring that all profits go towards fighting climate change.
• The Ethereum blockchain completed its Merge upgrade early Thursday, cofounder Vitalik Buterin said.
• Billionaire investor Ray Dalio predicts the Fed will hike interest rates to at least 4.5% - and warns a major recession is likely, coupled with a 20% sell-off in the stock market.

In commodities:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.94% to $86.76 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 2.06% to $92.16.
• Gold fell 0.88% to $1,694.10 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 3 basis points to 3.45%.
• Bitcoin was trading mostly flat, hovering around $20,070.