US stocks edged lower on ECB disappointment

On Thursday, major US equity indices opened lower after ECB decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged, which seems to have disappointed markets expecting the central bank to announce additional stimulus.

In absence of any other major economic news, disappointment from the ECB triggered a sharp sell-off in European equity markets and is exerting selling pressure on US equity markets as well. 

During opening trade, Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 60 points to 18,465, while the broader index, S&P 500 lost 6 points to 2,180. Meanwhile, tech heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 24 point to 5,260.

On the US economic data front, weekly jobless claims remained at historic low levels and dropped by 4k to 259k as against expected 265k and previous week's 263k, clearly indicating the underlying strength in the US labor market.

In other markets, gold witnessed a range-bound trade amid broad based US Dollar weakness. Meanwhile, WTI crude oil built on to Wednesday's strong gains ahead of the EIA report on weekly US crude oil inventories.