US stocks slip after unemployment claims rise; tech slumps

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are slipping Thursday morning after a surprising jump in the number of Americans who are out of work. Retailers got more bad news as department store Kohl’s reported disappointing first-quarter results. Companies including agribusiness giant Monsanto are climbing on reports of possible buyouts.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,633 as of 11:26 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index sank 7 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,057. The Nasdaq composite index dipped 40 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,720.

The Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since February 2015. That comes after a disappointing jobs report for the month of April. Applications rose by 20,000 to 294,000. Despite the increase, they have remained below 300,000 for more than a year.

Department store Kohl’s said its sales dropped and its income was weighed down by high costs. The company’s results suffered as it discounted some items to clear out inventory. The stock fell $4.30, or 11.1 percent, to $34.40.

Retailers have been struggling for months. Macy’s slashed its profit forecast Wednesday following its quarterly report, and Gap posted worse-than-expected April sales on Monday. Nordstrom fell 76 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $44.68 and Macy’s lost another 72 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $30.66.

Bloomberg News reported that German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer might make an offer for U.S.-based Monsanto. That follows a wave of consolidation in the chemicals industry: DuPont and Dow Chemical agreed to combine last year, and ChemChina agreed to buy Syngenta of Switzerland in March. Monsanto stock climbed $8.27, or 9.2 percent, to $98.62.

Data security company Infoblox surged $3.30, or 21.6 percent, to $18.61 after Bloomberg reported that a private equity firm offered to buy it.