Stock Market Today: Live Updates

European stocks opened lower on Thursday but ended just below flat in early trading amid a mix of losers and gainers across sectors.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.14%, while Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.24% and 0.1%, respectively.

Australian mining company shares fell after mining giant BHP backed away from plans to buy rival Anglo American for 38.6 billion pounds ($49 billion).

BHP said in a regulatory filing that it believed the proposed takeover was a “compelling opportunity to effectively expand the value pie for both shareholders” but that it had been unable to reach agreement with Anglo American, particularly on South African regulatory risks and costs.

BHP had made two takeover bids, one for £31.1 billion in April and one for £34 billion on May 14.

BHP shares fell 1.73%, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Group shares fell 1.34% and 2.27% respectively.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell more than 2% at the open on Thursday, dragged down by declines in healthcare, consumer goods and industrial stocks.

The biggest faller on the index was semiconductor equipment maker Advantest, which fell 5.8%.

Mitsubishi Electric, an electrical appliance manufacturing subsidiary of trading giant Mitsubishi, fell nearly 5%. Other top decliners included Tokyo Electric Power Co., down 4.7%, and medical equipment maker Terumo, down 4.25%.

Salesforce shares fell about $43 in after-hours trading on Wednesday and are on track to fall 281 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average when the market opens on Thursday.

Salesforce shares are falling after the company’s second-quarter revenue and earnings per share forecasts fell short of analysts’ consensus estimates, according to FactSet data.

Because the Dow is weighted by stock prices, every $1 change in a component stock moves the average up or down by about 6.6 points, meaning Salesforce’s $42.60 loss equated to a 281-point drop as of Thursday morning.

Scott Schnipper

Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Disney, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Peltz sold his entire Disney stock at about $120 a share, making a profit of about $1 billion on his stake.

The departure comes just weeks after Peltz’s Trian Partners lost a proxy fight in early April when it re-elected all of its Disney director nominees. Peltz had sought to have himself and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo elected to the company’s board.

Disney shares were down 0.2% in after-market trading on Thursday.

You can see the complete list here.

— Hagyeong Kim, Sara Salinas, Scott Wapner

Salesforce.com Inc.’s profit beat analysts’ estimates by 6 cents a share, but first-quarter revenue fell short of expectations, sending shock waves through Wall Street as the tech giant posted its first earnings decline since February 2006, according to information from earnings data firm LSEG.

Compounding the disappointing sales results was a weak outlook for second-quarter revenue and profits. The news has caused the blue-chip stock to plummet 17%. If Salesforce shares maintain their current decline when the market opens on Thursday, that move alone would cause the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 315 points.

— Robert Ham

Let’s take a look at some of the companies that are garnering attention in extended trading.

Salesforce — LSEG said its shares fell more than 14% after the company reported first-quarter revenue of $9.13 billion, below the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $2.44 beat the consensus estimate of $2.38, but current-quarter guidance fell short of expectations on both sales and earnings.

UiPath — The software company saw its shares fall 30% after it announced that CEO Rob Enslin would step down effective June 1. He will also step down from the board of directors. Daniel Dines, UiPath’s former CEO and now chief innovation officer, will take the helm again.

HP Inc. — The personal computer maker’s shares rose 3%. HP reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 82 cents a share on sales of $12.8 billion, beating analyst expectations of 81 cents a share on sales of $12.6 billion, according to LSEG.

You can see the complete list here.

— Kim Hagyeong

U.S. stock futures opened in the negative on Wednesday evening.

Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 258 points, or 0.7%,.

S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures each fell 0.2%.

— Kim Hagyeong