U.S. markets opened mixed Thursday after the
U.S. Department of Labor reported first-time jobless claims fell by 17,000 in the week ending Dec. 4.
As expected, the Bank of England left its overnight lending rate unchanged at 0.5 percent Thursday. The leading index in Britain rose 0.4 percent in October, the Conference Board said.
In most of Asia and Europe markets rose. The dollar index, a pro-rated measure of the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.32 percent to 80.26, climbing for the third consecutive trading session.
In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 20.32 points or 0.18 percent to 11,352.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 1.25 or 0.1 percent or 1,229.53. The Nasdaq composite index of tech-dominated stock gained 2.22 or 0.09 percent to 2,611.38.
The 10-year treasury note rose 12/32 to yield 3.22 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3185 from Wednesday's $1.3263. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 83.9545 yen from Wednesday's 84.01 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.52 percent, 53.55, to 10,285.88.