NEW YORK, May 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened mixed on Thursday as Wall Street digested the nation's weekly jobless claims numbers.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 244.26 points, or 0.71 percent, to 34,567.31. The S&P 500 rose 10.05 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4,206.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 35.92 points, or 0.26 percent, to 13,702.88.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors advanced in morning trading, with industrials and financials both up more than 1 percent, leading the gainers. Technology and utilities, however, struggled.

On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, decreased by 38,000 to 406,000 in the week ending May 22, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. The reading marked a fresh pandemic-era low. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 425,000.