U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Thursday as market players focused on earnings reports, merger deals and economic data.
The
S&P 500 opened 2 points, or 0.1%, higher at 2,116.38.
The Nasdaq
Composite added 15 points, or 0.3%, to 5,186.25.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 9 points, or 0.1%, to 17,840.
Weekly jobless claims dropped
to the lowest level since 1973 - far more than economists predicted.
Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings, and a sustained low level of applications has typically coincided with faster job gains. In an environment of accelerating employment growth, many weekly layoffs may also reflect company- or industry-specific causes, such as cost cutting or business restructuring, rather than underlying labor-market trends.
Labor Department figures showed on July 2 that hiring has been strong. Payrolls rose by 223,000 in June following a 254,000 gain the prior month. The U.S. jobless rate dipped to a seven-year trough of 5.3 percent, while wages stagnated and the size of the labor force receded.
