US equities drift into negative territory after slightly higher opening

Major US equity indices witnessed a positive opening on Thursday but failed to build on early gains on disappointing quarterly earnings report from Facebook.

Today's early gains were led by the Federal Reserve's optimistic statement on the US economic strength. The central bank downplayed economic slowdown witnessed during the first quarter and expressed confidence in the strength of the US economy. 

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The US equities also got an initial boost from positive sentiment surrounding European markets on signs that pro-EU French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was heading for a victory in Sunday's runoff. 

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After a mildly positive opening, markets quickly reversed early gains and drifted into negative territory as focus shifts to the keenly watched US non-farm payrolls data, due for release during early NA session on Friday.

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 25-points to 20,935, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost 2-points to 2,385. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 10-points and dropped to 6,060.