By Ovunc Kutlu
NEW YORK (AA) – The stock market opened higher Thursday as two of three indexes set new records, after the release of positive macroeconomic data and rise in oil prices.
The Dow Jones rose 122 points to begin the day at 18,494 points, while the S&P 500 was up 12 points to open at 2,165. The Nasdaq gained 35 points to begin the day at 5,040.
With the strong opening, the Dow and the S&P both climbed to new all-time record levels.
Although oil prices lost around 4 percent on Wednesday, they have begun increasing again Thursday.
At the first bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $45.55 a barrel with a 1.8 percent rise, while international benchmark Brent crude was at $47.20 per barrel — a 2 percent gain.
In addition, the Producer Price Index for June increased 0.5 percent, compared to the previous month, the Department of Labor announced Thursday, beating the market expectations of 0.3 percent.
