Stock Market Update

The stock market is on track for a lower opening this morning as tech names remain under pressure. Mega-cap stocks are mostly lower after Alphabet's (GOOG 316.93, -16.41, -4.9%) earnings release, which will likely pressure the major averages at the open.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending January 31 increased by 22,000 to 231,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 210,000). Continuing jobless claims for the week ending January 24 increased by 25,000 to 1.844 million.

The key takeaway from the report was the jump in initial claims, which hit their highest level since early December. That created some headline surprise, but to be fair, the absolute level isn't that bad.