Stocks Little Changed at Open, ECB Expanded Stimulus

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher and turned negative on Thursday as investors assessed the impact of the European Central Bank’s monetary easingmeasures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 32.67 points, or 0.18%, to 17,697.01. The S&P 500 shed 3.12 points, or 0.15%, to 2,076.39. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.34 points, or 0.03%, to 5,121.88.

The European Central Bank cut a key interest rate on Thursday and announced an extension of its monthly asset purchase but the euro leapt higher as financial markets signaled they had been expecting yet more stimulus.

More Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last week of November, but the pace of layoffs remained near a 15-year low amid a tightening labor market. Initial jobless claims rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 269,000 in the period from Nov. 22 to Nov. 28, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Oil prices rose from near-2015 lows on Thursday after a report sourced to a senior OPEC delegate said Saudi Arabia would next year propose a deal to balance oil markets with non-OPEC help. Benchmark Brent crude futures (LCOc1) were up $1.01, or 2.4 percent, at $43.50 a barrel by 1320 GMT (0920 EDT). U.S. crude (CLc1) was trading 76 cents higher at $40.70 a barrel, after sinking below $40 on Wednesday.

Kroger Co (KR.N), the biggest U.S. supermarket operator by store count, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as the company cut costs and its comparable sales grew. The net income attributable to Kroger rose 18.2 percent to $428 million, or 43 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 39 cents per share. Kroger’s total sales increased 0.4 percent to $25.08 billion.

Costco Wholesale Corp. reported better-than-expected sales growth in November at its established stores. Total sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 29 rose to $9.68 billion from $9.43 billion. For the 12-week first-quarter ended Nov. 22, Costco’s total sales increased 1% to $26.63 billion from $26.28 billion a year ago.

Sears Holdings Corp. narrowed its loss in the third-quarter as the company closed some stores. Sears reported a loss of $454 million, or $4.26 a share, compared with a loss of $548 million, or $5.15, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 20% to $5.7 billion.