The US stock market closed mostly flat for Wednesday, but it could be gearing up for a drop for Thursday morning as markets open.

The Dow Jones continued its winning streak, closing high by 0.44%, which makes it six consecutive days of improvement. That is the longest we have seen this index stay positive in months.

While those numbers look good for the overall market, it is important to note that the S&P 500 closed flat at 0% change and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.18%.

It would not take much to bring the major market indices down for the next closing to where the market looks negative overall. One factor in particular that could affect the market movement is unemployment claims, which were reported last week and showed a further increase.

Unemployment Claims Up

The report on jobless claims showed that the numbers were higher than expected, which indicates worsening inflation and a tighter, tougher market. That leads to less financial wiggle room for investors and increased investing risk when it comes to the stock market. Traders will be looking for those surefire stocks that they can count on, so any stock earnings report that comes out will need to be positive all the way through to see the stock price increase.

Even if a proven company has reported profits for the quarter, their stock price could drop if those profits are minimal and their forecast is not overly positive.

In April, the US opened up a startlingly small number of jobs, leading to more speculation about the state of the economy, most of it negative.

A couple of major earnings reports are coming out today, including Warner Bros Discovery, which hit early this morning. The media giant reported profits and increased streaming numbers, which could give the stock a boost when the market opens for trading this morning. Market sentiment overall, though, is expected to be muted and slightly negative as inflation worries continue.