NEW YORK, May 1 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Wall Street ended mixed Thursday after the third largest U.S. automaker Chrysler announced it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Wall Street opened higher in the morning as investors welcomed a surprise decline in new jobless claims and earnings beating estimates.
The U.S. Labor Department said initial claims fell 14,000 to 631,000 last week. Economists had predicted a rise. But continuing claims jumped to a new record.
However, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending dropped by 0.2 percent in March, worse than the 0.1 percent decline that economists had expected.
In a midday speech, U.S. President Barack Obama indicated that Chrysler will form an alliance with the Italian carmaker Fiat Group SpA.
Under the direction of the U.S. Treasury, the troubled automaker and 24 of its wholly owned U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
In corporate news, many companies including Dow Chemical, P&G, ExxonMobil and Newmont Mining reported results topped analysts' expectations. And Motorola Inc. posted a loss during the first quarter, but smaller than analysts had predicted.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.61 points, or 0.22 percent, to 8,168.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 0.83 of a point, or 0.09 percent, to 872.81. The Nasdaq Composite index was up 5.36 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,717.30.