A muddled start for US stocks; eBay opens lower

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are getting off to a weak start as investors pick over the latest corporate earnings reports.

Bed Bath & Beyond plunged 6 percent after the company reported that weaker sales drove down its earnings in the latest quarter.

EBay fell 2 percent on news that the activist investor Carl Icahn is backing down from his push to shake up the company.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged down a point to 1,871 in the first few minutes of trading Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost eight points to 16,428. The Nasdaq composite fell 16 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,167.

Rite Aid surged 13 percent after reporting earnings that beat analysts' forecasts.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 2.68 percent.