Stocks opened higher on the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.96 points at 9,438.42. The S&P 500 was up 4.19 points, at 1,015.11. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 9.64 points at 1,833.45.

In early morning trading, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 13.17 points at 7,584.23.

Financial market will observe four moments of silence Thursday morning, at 08:46, 09:03, 09:59 and 10:29 ET, the moments when two aircraft struck the World Trade Center towers and the moments when the towers collapsed.

The economic news out of the U.S. this morning is not positive. The Labor Department is reporting that the number of American workers filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose to a two-month high last week. Employers are still reluctant to hire new workers despite recent indications of economic growth. Initial jobless claims increased by 3,000 to 422,000, the third consecutive weekly increase.

The U.S. Commerce Department is reporting that the U.S. trade gap widened in July as purchases of foreign goods and services climbed to their second highest level on record. The U.S. deficit in international trade rose to $40.32 billion from $40.04 billion in June..

The news in Canada is better, with the gap between exports and imports narrowing. Canada’s merchandise trade balance fell from almost $4.6 billion to just over $4.4 billion, says Statistics Canada. Exports and imports of merchandise both increased in July. Canadian companies sent $32.7 billion of goods abroad, up 0.5% from June. They brought in $28.3 billion of goods, a 1.2% increase.

In Europe at midday, stock prices are down in London and Paris. The London FTSE 100 index is off 4.8 points to 4,247.3. Paris’s CAC40 index is up 0.7%, to 3353. Frankfurt’s DAX is up a slight 0.4%.

Overnight in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei average fell 309.99 points to 10,546.33. The market was influenced by concerns about terrorism issues and Wednesday’s pullback in North American tech stocks.

Hong Kong ended its three-session losing streak. It gained 73.21 points to 10,883.52.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 9,420.46, down 86.74 points. The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 25.45 points to 7,571.06, supported by energy and financial stocks. The Nasdaq composite index fell 49.62 points to 1,823.81. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 12.25 to1,010.92.