Stocks Opened Higher on Upbeat Economic Data

U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, boosted by a pair of upbeat economic reports, which showed a surprise drop in a number of  people claiming unemployment benefits and an uptick in retails sales in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 48.64 points, or 0.30%, to 16,388.72. The S&P 500 was up 3.88 points, or 0.21%, at 1,872.08. The Nasdaq Composite gained 5.67 points, or 0.13%,
at 4,329.00.

The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits in the first week of March fell to the lowest level in more than three months. Initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 315,000 in the period of March 2 to March 8, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Sales at U.S. retailers rose in February for the first time in three months as shoppers boosted purchases of a variety of goods after being cooped up by one of the harshest winters in years. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, the Commerce Department said.

Shares of Plug Power Inc. (PLUG) jumped more than 11% premarket Thursday following the fuel-cell company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. The firm said it lost $28.9 million, or 28 cents a share, last quarter, compared with a loss of $8.5 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same quarter during the previous year.

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automotive group, Thursday posted a 58% drop in net profit for 2013 and issued a cautious outlook for the new business year. Volkswagen’s net profit was EUR9 billion ($12.5 billion) last year, down from EUR21.7 billion the year before. Sales rose 2.2% to EUR197 billion.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is “95 percent certain” to choose New York as the venue for its initial public offering, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources close to the deal.