Stocks open slightly higher; S&P 500, Dow hover near records

The Associated Press

Stocks are opening with slight gains on Wall Street Thursday, keeping the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering just above the latest record highs they set a day earlier. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in the first few minutes of trading, led by gains in banks, health care and industrial companies, and the Dow was up 0.5%. Technology stocks lagged the rest of the market, and the Nasdaq was little changed. European markets were also modestly higher and Asian markets closed mixed overnight. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was little changed at 1.54%.