U.S. stocks open lower as investors weigh jobless claims data

U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday, as investors assessed a report from the Department of Labor showing a slight rise in jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.09%
was down 0.1% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.10%
fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.08%
dropped 0.5%, according to FactSet data, at last check. Initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 2,000 to 204,000 in the week ending Sept. 23, according to a Department of Labor report Thursday.