US stock market opens mixed

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened mixed Thursday as rise in oil prices was balanced with negative macroeconomic data.

The Dow added 39 points to begin the day at 19,162 and the S&P 500 rose one point to 2,199. The Nasdaq, however, fell seven points to 5,315.

The number of people who made initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 17,000 to reach 268,000 for the week ending Nov. 26, according to the Department of Labor earlier Thursday. The market expectation was 253,000.

Oil prices continue to increase after OPEC's deal to limit its output created positive sentiment among investors in the market.

At the first bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $50.82 a barrel – a 2.8 percent increase, and international benchmark Brent crude was at $53.37 a barrel -- a 2.9 percent gain.