US stock mkt. opens lower with poor data, low oil price

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened lower Thursday with disappointing macroeconomic data and with the decline in oil prices.

The Dow Jones lost 40 points to open at 18,161. The S&P 500 was down four points at 2,139 and the Nasdaq began the day with a 10 point decline at 5,236.

Initial jobless claims increased by 13,000 to reach 260,000 for the week ending Oct. 15, according to the U.S. Department of Labor earlier Thursday. However, the market anticipated a rise of 250,000.

After increasing around 2 percent Wednesday with falling crude inventories in the U.S., investors took a short-term sell-off position on Thursday in the crude market for profit, according to analysts.

At the first bell in Wall Street, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $50.82 a barrel with a 1.6 percent decline. International benchmark Brent crude was $51.58 per barrel - a 1.7 percent loss.