STOCKS FALL, SNAPCHAT SURGES: Here's what you need to know

Akin Oyedele

Hollis Johnson

The major US equity indexes closed lower on Thursday, retreating after logging the strongest performance of this year on Wednesday.

Here's the scoreboard:

Snap surged in its trading debut. The parent company of Snapchat opened for trading at $24, up about 41% from the IPO price of $17 apiece. At the opening price, Snap had a valuation of about $33 billion, surpassing stalwarts like Viacom and HP.
There's already a "sell" rating. "Investors in Snap will be exposed to an upstart facing aggressive competition from much larger companies, with a core user base that is not growing by much and which is only relatively elusive," said Pivotal Research Group's Brian Wieser. He has a $10 price target - 58% lower than the opening price.
Initial jobless claims are at the lowest level since 1973. Claims, which count the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time in the past week, dropped by more than expected to 223,000.
Bitcoin climbed above gold for the first time. The cryptocurrency rose to $1,241.30 around 10:20 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, gold was $1,241.25 at the time.
Caterpillar facilities in Illinois were searched by law enforcement authorities with a warrant. The Peoria Journal Star newspaper reported that people with Internal Revenue Service jackets were seen entering the headquarters. Caterpillar shares fell 4%.
Boeing is planning 1,500 voluntary job cuts. Employees were notified this week that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union said it didn't know if this met Boeing's target or could still be followed by compulsory layoffs, the WSJ reported.

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