Stocks Opened Lower after Weaker Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday after a batch of weaker-than-expected data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 23.28 points, or 0.13%, to 18,201.29. The S&P 500 was down 2.73 points, or 0.13%, to 2,111.13. The Nasdaq Composite was up 2.32 points, or 0.05%, to 4,969.45.

The number of Americans seeking first-time unemployment benefits rose last week. Initial jobless claims rose by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 313,000 in the week ended Feb. 21, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 290,000 new claims.

The consumer-price index declined 0.7 percent, the most since December 2008, after dropping 0.3 percent in December, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington.

Orders for durable goods–products like refrigerators and cars designed to last at least three years-climbed a seasonally adjusted 2.8% in January from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 0.3%.

IBM’s CEO says the company’s plan to revamp its business to shift away from hardware and focus on business analytics, cloud computing, mobile services and security is on track.