NEW YORK, June 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened mixed on Thursday as investors were digesting a slew of economic data.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 78.33 points, or 0.32 percent, to 24,579.47. The S&P 500 was down 1.26 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,766.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 14.44 points, or 0.19 percent, to 7,795.95.
The gains of the Nasdaq Composite were mainly underpinned by the rallying of Netflix stocks. Shares of the U.S. streaming giant rose more than 0.6 percent shortly after the market opening.
Investors paid close attention to several newly released economic data.
In the week ending June 16, the initial jobless claims were 218,000, lower than the market forecast of 220,000. The reading showed a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average was 221,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average.
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 42.41 points, or 0.17 percent, to 24,657.80. The S&P 500 was up 4.73 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,767.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 55.93 points, or 0.72 percent, to 7,781.51, at the day's market closing. Enditem
