U.S. stocks open higher as investors digest jobless-claims report

U.S. stocks opened higher Thursday as investors digested fresh data showing initial jobless claims inched up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.11%
was up 0.2% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.65%
rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.98%
gained 0.7%, according to FactSet data, at last check. The Department of Labor said Thursday that initial jobless claims rose by 1,000, to 220,000, in the week ending Dec. 2, indicating layoffs remain low. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was up about three basis points at around 4.2% after the release of the weekly jobless-claims report, according to FactSet data, at last check.