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U.S. stocks open mildly higher

Xinhua, April 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday as investors digested economic data and set up for Friday' s jobs report.

Jobless claims unexpectedly fell in the latest week, suggesting the labor market continues to expand at a solid pace.

In the week ending March 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 268,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week' s revised level, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

Traders are looking ahead to the key March payroll report, which will be released Friday.

U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the goods and services deficit was 35.4 billion U.S. dollars in February, down 7.2 billion dollars from January' s revised level.

Thursday marks the last full trading day of the week, as stock markets are shut for Good Friday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20.62 points, or 0.12 percent, to 17,718.80. The S&P 500 rose 2.35 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,062.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 7.71 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,887.94.

U.S. stocks extended losses on Wednesday, as investors were assessing weaker-than-expected economic indicators and a batch of car sales. Endi