NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher, a day after suffering their worst losses in seven months.
Before the market opened Thursday, the government said first-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week. Claims fell to 385,000, a slightly bigger fall than economists had expected.
A separate report showed consumer prices edged higher in February. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent last month, slightly stronger than forecasts.
Financial markets were gripped by fear over Japan’s nuclear crisis on Wednesday, with stocks losing nearly all their gains for the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 131, or 1.1 percent, at 11,746. The S&P 500 index is up 17, or 1.4 percent, at 1,274. The Nasdaq is up 37, or 1.4 percent, at 2,654.
