U.S. Main Stock Indexes Open Mixed In Choppy Trade

U.S. stocks switched between small gains and losses Thursday in what's set up to be a choppy trading day after readings on retail sales and jobless claims suggested the U.S. economy is on a healthy footing. The relatively upbeat economic reports put the Federal Reserve on track to possibly raise rates as soon as September as the world's second-largest economy, China, looks shaky. The S&P 500 was up about a point, or less than 0.1%, at 2,087, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was moving between positive and negative territory and was most recently, down 19 points, or 0.1%, at 17,380. Meanwhile, The Nasdaq Composite Index , was up about about 7 points, or 0.2% at, 5,050.