U.S. stocks open lower on soft data

U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday as investors digested a batch of generally downbeat economic reports.

U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in February decreased 6.6 billion U.S. dollars or 2.8 percent to 229.4 billion dollars, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday.

Meanwhile, in the week ending March 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims increased 6,000 from the previous week's revised level to 265,000, roughly in line with market expectations, U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 259,750, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average.

The continued decline in oil prices also weighed on market sentiment. Oil prices extended losses Thursday, with both U.S. oil and Brent crude tumbling about 3 percent in the early trading, dented by record-high stockpiles in the United States.

U.S. crude supplies of last week gained 9.4 million barrels to 532.5 million barrels, 65.9 million barrels more than one year before, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s weekly report released Wednesday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.27 points, or 0.34 percent, to 17,442.32. The S&P 500 lost 7.73 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,028.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 24.68 points, or 0.52 percent, to 4,744.18.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended lower as a renewed decline in oil prices weighed on Wall Street. Endi