U.S. stocks open higher to kick off Oct. trading

U.S. stocks opened mildly higher Thursday as Wall Street digested America's initial jobless claims data ahead of the nonfarm payrolls report due out Friday.

In the week ending Sept. 26, the advance figure for seasonally-adjusted initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 277,000, above market consensus of 272,000, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The four-week moving average remained at a very low level of 270,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average, suggesting continued strength in the labor market.

Meanwhile, investors are also keeping a close eye on Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, an influential statistics report on employment released monthly by the U.S. Labor Department that does not include farm workers, private household employees or non-profit employees, for clues to the strength of the U.S. economy.

On Wednesday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the global economy is approaching closer to a "new mediocre" scenario -- the risk of low growth for a long time.

In the curtain-raising speech for the IMF-World Bank annual meetings, Lagarde expected that global growth will likely be weaker this year than last year, with only a modest acceleration expected in 2016 given the disappointing and uneven growth of the world economy.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.11 points, or 0.22 percent, to 16,320.81. The S&P 500 added 4.30 points, or 0.22 percent, to 1,924.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 4.19 points, or 0.09 percent, to 4,624.36.

U.S. stocks posted solid gains Wednesday as Wall Street cheered over a strong rebound in overseas stock markets. Endi