US stocks mixed, Nasdaq continue to underperform

Major US equity indices witnessed a firm opening on Thursday amid easing bearish pressure surrounding the beaten-down technology stocks.

Thursday’s positive move during the opening hour of trade followed technology-driven weakness in the previous session and was being supported by a batch of stronger-than-expected US economic data, showing initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since 1973 and consumer spending rose 0.2% in February. 

Despite some stability, all the three major indices remain on track for sharp monthly losses, with declines of anywhere between 4 to 4.7%. For the quarter, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broader S&P 500 Index are on track to fall by 3.5% and 2.6%, respectively, marking the first quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2015.

Trading for the week, for the month and the first quarter, will wrap up at the end of today's session as the markets will be shut on Friday in observance of Good Friday.

Among notable movers, shares of Amazon.com fell over 3.5% after the US President Donald Trump tweeted about his concerns that the e-commerce giant isn't paying its fair share of taxes and is hurting the US Postal Service.

This coupled with privacy concerns in the wake of Facebook's data scandal continue to weigh on technology shares and might continue to cap any meaningful up-move, at least for the time being.