U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Thursday as investors assessed a hotter-than-expected rise in inflation and a further decline in first-time jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.27%
rose 245 points, or 0.6%, to 34,692, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.36%
rose 0.5% to 4,241.20, trading above its record close from May 7. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.46%
was up 0.4% at 13,970. Inflation data showed the cost of living surged again in May and drove the pace of inflation to a 13-year high of 5%. Meanwhile, initial applications for unemployment benefits fell by 9,000 to 376,000 in the week ended June 5, the lowest since March 2020.
