Stocks Opened Higher after Jobless Claims Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday, after a reading of initial U.S. jobless claims that showed the pace of layoffs nationwide remained extremely low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 37.36 points, or 0.21%, to 17,732.04. The S&P 500 was off 0.11 points, or 0.01%, to 2,070.66. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.03 points, or 0.02%, to 4,778.22.

More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the level of jobless claims remains low enough to suggest that most workers enjoy job security. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly U.S. applications rose by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 268,000.

Oil prices eased in early trading on Thursday, giving back ground after their biggest gain in more than two months. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August fell 39 cents, or 0.8%, to $49.49 a barrel. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 44 cents, or 0.8%, to $50.20 a barrel.

Spanish officials raided Google’s Madrid offices on Thursday in a tax probe, authorities said, barely a month after the internet company had its headquarters in France searched on suspicion of tax evasion.

Deutsche Bank AG is the riskiest financial institution in the world as a potential source of external shocks to the financial system, according to the International Monetary Fund.