NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as traders return from the Christmas holiday.

Good news about the U.S. job market encouraged investors to bid up stock prices.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week by the most in more than a year. That's a sign that layoffs are easing.

T-Mobile rose 1 percent on talk that Japan's Softbank was considering buying the company.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 55 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,412 in the first few minutes of trading Thursday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,838. The Nasdaq composite rose 11 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,166.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.99 percent.