U.S. stocks open mixed on economic data

U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Thursday, as investors were digesting a slew of economic data.

U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for July were 446.5 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous month, slightly higher than market expectations.

In the week ending Aug. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 274,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level, according to U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

U.S. import prices declined 0.9 percent in July, after recording no change the previous month, the Labor Department said in another report.

Analysts worried that strong economic data increased the likelihood that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rate in September.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.31 points, or 0.11 percent, to 17,383.20. The S&P 500 declined 2.07 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,083.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10.07 points, or 0.20 percent, to 5,054.45.

U.S. stocks reversed early heavy losses to close mixed Wednesday, as investors continued to assess the impacts of the Chinese central bank's decision to improve its foreign exchange rate formation system. Endi