US stock market opens higher

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened higher Thursday with the rise in oil prices and positive jobless claims data.

The Dow Jones rose 133 points to start the day at 17,914 points. The S&P 500 was up 15 points to open at 2,100, while the Nasdaq gained 38 points to begin the day at 4,871 points, confirming that all three indexes opened on a higher note for a fourth day in a row.

At the opening bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $49.91 a barrel with a 1 percent increase, and international benchmark Brent crude was at $50.72 per barrel with a 1.2 percent gain.

Last Thursday, the Labor Department's announced initial jobless claims at 259,000 compared to the market expectation of 270,000.

The markets are now awaiting the results of the U.K.'s EU referendum Thursday.