Stocks Opened Higher after Jobless Claims Data

U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, extending record gains, despite  US jobless claims rose last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 4.11 points, or 0.03%, to 15,681.05. The S&P 500 index rose 1.59 points, or 0.09%, to 1,727.11. The Nasdaq Composite added 7.21 points, or 0.19%, to 3,790.85.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 309,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Sony Corp is betting on initial Playstation 4 sales to be 40 percent higher than its last home game console which cost more to build and buy, raising the prospect of quicker return to help revive its consumer electronics business.

Facebook Inc is expanding a service that lets a group of major marketers measure the effectiveness of their ads, in the company’s latest move to prove that advertising on the world’s largest social network leads to real world sales.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM -0.21% will pay $920 million in a global settlement related to the “London Whale” scandal to regulators, according to the regulators Thursday.