Stocks pare losses in midday trading

UPDATED at 1:39 p.m.:

Stocks are regaining some of their losses from today's opening.

A little more than halfway through the trading day, the Dow is up less than two-tenths of 1 percent.

The broader S&P 500 is up a little more than the Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down three-tenths of 1 percent.

Stocks open lower

9:54 a.m.: Stocks opened lower this morning following an encouraging report on new jobless claims.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Dow is down one-tenth of 1 percent.

The broader S&P 500 is down by the same amount and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down by a little more.

The number of new jobless claims filed last week rose slightly to 434,000, less than the 447,000 expected by forecasters.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims fell for the 18th straight week, which could be a good sign for the big unemployment numbers set for release from the government Friday. The Labor Department will report the December unemployment rate; the November number came in at 10 percent, down from 10.2 percent in October.

-- Frank Ahrens
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