U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, attempting a sixth straight day of gains, as investors digested fresh economic data on stronger-than-expected retail sales and a drop in initial jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was up 0.3% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 SPX gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP climbed 0.5%, according to FactSet data, at last check. U.S. retail sales rose 0.3% in November, the Census Bureau said Thursday, which compared with 0.1% decline that had been forecast by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims in the U.S. dropped 19,000 in the week ending Dec. 9 to 202,000, according to a report Thursday from the Department of Labor. The Dow closed Wednesday at a record high after the Federal Reserve said it would keep its benchmark interest rate steady while penciling in a potential 75 basis points of rate cuts next year.
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