U.S. stocks open higher amid upbeat data

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday, as investors mainly assessed upbeat jobs data.

In the week ending April 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 234,000, a decrease of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week moving average was revised up by 250 from 254,250 to 254,500.

Analysts said recent jobs reports pointed to the strength of U.S. labor market.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street still digested the minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting.

The minutes showed Fed officials want to start unwinding the central bank's massive 4.5-trillion-U.S.-dollar balance sheet later this year.

"Provided that the economy continued to perform as expected, most participants anticipated that gradual increases in the federal funds rate would continue and judged that a change to the committee's reinvestment policy would likely be appropriate later this year," the minutes said.

Analysts said that unwinding the balance sheet is significant both because of its sheer size and the impact it could have on markets as the move itself would amount to a rate hike.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 5.58 points, or 0.03 percent, to 20,653.73. The S&P 500 rose 0.77 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,353.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.57 points, or 0.16 percent, to 5,874.05. Endi