U.S. equity markets were mixed Thursday morning after initial jobless claims fell below 1 million for the first week since coronavirus lockdowns began in mid-March.

The S&P 500, on the verge of an all-time high after finishing Wednesday’s session less than six points below its record of 3,386.15, fell 0.23 percent. The index’s intraday high is 3,393.52.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dropped 92 points, or 0.33 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.37%.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 8 totaled 963,000, according to the Labor Department. The reading marked the first time in 21 weeks that filings were below 1 million and was beneath the 1.12 million filings that Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting.

Continuing claims, meanwhile, fell by 604,000 to 15.48 million, also better-than-anticipated.

Looking at stocks, Dow component 3M said July sales rose 6% from a year ago as business picked up across all of its units. Read more at FOX Business