U.S. stocks were unsettled at the open on Thursday as a rise in initial weekly jobless claims offset better-than-expected earnings from several banks, including Goldman Sachs Group .

The Dow index was off 0.3 percent while the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq gained 0.4 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 15.56 points, or 0.15 percent, at 10,587.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 1.57 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,139.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 12.31 points, or 0.54 percent, at 2,303.56.

(Reporting by Angela Moon)

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