U.S stocks open higher as investors weigh fresh economic data, ECB rate hike

U.S. stocks opened higher as investors digest fresh economic data and the European Central Bank’s decision to hike interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to fight inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.14% rose around 1.2% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.12% gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.08% edged up 0.1%, according to FactSet, at last check. The U.S. economy grew at an annual 2.6% rate in the third quarter, after shrinking in the first half of the year, according to a report Thursday from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims in the U.S. increased by 3,000 to 217,000 in the week ended Oct. 22, rising less than economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had anticipated.