Stocks Opened Higher after ECB Rate Cut, Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday, after the European Central Bank cut interest rates to record lows and a flurry of economic data indicated the U.S. economy was steadily improving. The Dow Jones industrial average lately rose 58.70 points, or 0.34%, to 17,136.98. The S&P 500 gained 6.29 points, or 0.31%, to 2,007.01. The Nasdaq Composite added 19.05 points, or 0.42%, to 4,591.62.

The European Central Bank will start buying securitised loans and covered bonds next month to help unblock lending in the euro zone, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week climbed slightly, but a very low level of layoffs continued to keep initial claims near an eight-year bottom. Initial jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 302,000 from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Customer data could have been stolen from nearly all of Home Depot Inc’s stores in the United States, according to new information released on Wednesday by security website KrebsonSecurity.

Shares of Ciena (CIEN) tumbled 12% in premarket trade Thursday, after the telecom-equipment maker’s disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter outlook overshadowed better-than-expected third-quarter results. For the current quarter, Ciena expects sales of $570 million to $610 million.

Mobileye N.V. (MBLY) said it had net income of $0.2 million, or breakeven on a per-share basis, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with $4 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.