Stocks open lower as weekly jobless claims rise

The unwelcome news came from the government as well as companies reporting lackluster sales and earnings. The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits have risen to 626,000, a 26-year high. Retailers reported another round of weak retail sales figures. Troubling results from Cisco Systems Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG also weighed on stocks.

The gloomy data overshadowed the government's report that productivity rose by 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter, more than twice what analysts expected. It also offered a grim look at the job market ahead of this week's most highly anticipated economic gauge, Friday's January payrolls report.

Investors have also been sorting through corporate earnings and economic data as they wait for a stimulus plan to pass through the Senate. The bill keeps swelling -- most recently, a new tax break for homebuyers pushed the cost well above $900 billion.

In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 66.51, or 0.84 percent, to 7,890.15.

Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 7.06, or 0.85 percent, to 825.17, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 11.71, or 0.77 percent, to 1,503.34.