US stocks started on a cautious note Thursday despite a surge in airline shares led by Delta Air Lines, which posted strong quarterly results and raised its outlook for the rest of 2025. The S&P 500 dipped 0.1% in early trade, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 28 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite, which had notched a record high on Wednesday, also edged down 0.1%.Delta jumped 12% in early deals after the airline beat Wall Street estimates on both revenue and profit, AP reported. The Atlanta-based carrier also raised its guidance for the summer travel season, marking a turnaround from the conservative forecasts issued earlier this year amid uncertainty linked to President Donald Trump’s trade policies.The upbeat earnings lifted the broader airline sector, with United Airlines rising 8% and American Airlines climbing 7.4%.Shares of WK Kellogg soared over 50% after a Wall Street Journal report said Italian confectionery giant Ferrero Group, known for Nutella, was close to finalising a $3 billion deal to acquire the US cereal maker.In commodity markets, copper prices rose, while oil edged lower. Benchmark US crude fell 48 cents to $67.90 a barrel, and Brent slipped 38 cents to $69.81.In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6% to 3,183.23 after the Bank of Korea kept interest rates steady and chip stocks rallied on Nvidia’s overnight gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%. Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.6%.Japan’s Nikkei 225, however, fell 0.4% to 39,646.36 as exporters took a hit from a stronger yen and uncertainty around ongoing US-Japan tariff talks.In Europe, markets were mostly positive at midday. London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.2%, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.5%, and Germany’s DAX edged up 0.1%.The dollar rose slightly against the yen to 146.35, up from 146.26, while the euro eased to $1.1712 from $1.1723.