US stocks open lower; Cisco plunges

U.S. stocks declined in early trade on Thursday as disappointing outlook from Cisco Systems and lower commodity prices weighed.

The S&P 500 Index declined 9.54 points, or 0.71 percent, to trade at 1,332.42 at 9:50 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 75.33 points, or 0.60 percent, to trade at 12,554.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.85 percent.

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) plunged 5.68 percent to $16.75 after the company warned on Wednesday that the upcoming quarter will be weaker than expected. Excluding items, its third quarter net income rose to $2.3 billion or $0.42 per share compared to $2.5 billion or $0.42 per share in the same quarter last year.

Energy and materials shares declined as commodities declined for the second day after China raised banks’ reserve requirements. ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) declined 0.91 percent and Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE:SLW) declined 3.77 percent.

On the economic front, the Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims decreased by 44,000 to 434,000 for the week ended May. 7 from the previous weeks revised figure of 478,000, while economists expected 430,000. The 4-week moving average of initial claims increased 4,500 to 436,750 from the previous week's revised average of 432,250.

Retail sales rose 0.5 percent in April compared to upwardly revised 0.9 percent growth in March and against analysts’ estimation of 0.6 percent.

The euro declined 0.05 percent to 1.4184 against the dollar and the yen gained 0.23 percent against the greenback.

Crude oil futures declined 0.71 percent to $97.51/barrel and gold futures fell 0.33 percent.

European stock markets are currently trading lower with DAX30 down by 88.62 points and CAC 40 down by 40.17 points, while FTSE 100 down by 43.68 points.