Stocks opened lower Thursday, under pressure after a larger-than-expected rise in first-time unemployment claims and disappointing results from Walmart that saw the retail behemoth and Dow component miss Wall Street profit expectations.

The key metric of comparable sales for Walmart in the U.S. ticked up 4.6% year over year, meaning overall sales growth is largely organic and not just driven by opening new stores. While some investors were spooked,

Adjusted earnings per share were softer than Wall Street was projecting, coming in at 68 cents a share, compared with estimates for 73 cents. The adjusted figure excludes one-time gains on equity and other investments,