S&P 500 opens lower pressured by slumping energy shares

• S&P 500 Index opened in the negative territory after Wednesday's drop.
• S&P 500 Energy Index is down 1.5% dragged by falling crude oil prices.
• Financial shares underperform as US T-bond yields turn south.

Major equity indexes opened in the negative territory on Thursday and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) extended its correction from the record-high it set at 3,399 on Wednesday. As of writing, the SPX was down 0.3% on the day at 3,365, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 0.45% at 27,565 and the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 11,149.

Earlier in the day, the data from the US showed that Initial Jobless Claims, once again, climbed above 1 million last week. Additionally, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index declined to 17.2 in August and missed the market expectation of 21.

The sharp drop witnessed in crude oil prices seems to be weighing on energy shares. With the barrel of West Texas Intermediate erasing near 2% and trading at $41.90, the S&P 500 Energy Index is losing 1.6% as the worst-performing major sector.

On the other hand, the Technology Index and the Communication Services Index both post modest losses in the early trade and help the tech-sensitive Nasdaq stay resilient.

S&P 500 chart (daily)