(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened in mixed order on Thursday amid fears the Federal Reserve will continue to raise rates for longer than expected, pushing yields on U.S. Treasuries higher than 4%.

The number of jobless claims in the United States last week, which turned out to be lower than estimated, only reinforced these concerns.

In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 67.29 points, or 0.21%, to 32,729.13 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.49% to 3,932.10 points.

The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.91%, or 103.01 points, to 11,276.47.

Jobless claims in the United States fell again during the week to February 25, confirming that the labor market remains solid.

Jobless claims stood at 190,000 last week, while economists polled by Reuters expected an average of 195,000.

“It doesn’t look like the job market is reacting to the rate hike. Unit labor costs are twice as high as expected because wages are up and productivity is down, so nothing really plays into it. markets,” said Jack Albin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital.

Wall Street started March on a volatile note as new indicators showed persistent inflation, while comments from Fed officials fueled fears that the US central bank could continue to raise rates for longer than foreseen.

The yield on ten-year U.S. Treasuries climbed to 4.08% on Thursday, a four-month high, while its two-year equivalent, which best reflects rate expectations, hit a high of 15 years at 4.94%.

On the stock side, Tesla is down 7% as the automaker failed to unveil an affordable electric vehicle during its Investor Day on Wednesday.

Silvergate Capital, which will delay the publication of its annual report and said it is evaluating its ability to continue its activities, lost 43%.

Salesforce gained 14%, thanks to a higher-than-expected revenue forecast for the first quarter.

Macy’s, whose fourth quarter results exceeded expectations, gained 5.7%.

(Written by Diana Mandiá, Editing by Kate Entringer)

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