Stocks Mixed on European Worries Wall Street stocks opened lower despite data showing continued growth in the United States labor market, as a rise in Spanish bond yields renewed concerns about the euro zone's financial health. Poor demand at a Spanish bond sale on Wednesday heightened fears about financing difficulties for weaker euro zone countries, with investors seeing an easing of the effects of the European Central Bank's huge liquidity injections. Shares were trading mixed by mid-morning. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 0.1 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq composite index, which is heavy in technology stocks, was flat. In Europe, the DAX index of German stocks declined 0.3 percent in afternoon trading. The CAC 40 in France was flat and the FTSE 100 in Britain gained 0.2 percent. Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds eased to 5.715 percent after crossing 5.8 percent on Wednesday. The number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits fell to the lowest in nearly four years last week, according to a government report. "Over all, the picture remains positive," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Company in New York, about the unemployment report. "But," he added, "we are frustrated by the failure of weekly claims to penetrate lower levels at which point we would have greater conviction that the jobs market is stepping on the gas pedal on its way to a destination of sustainable progress." Thursday's report has no direct relationship to the all-important March employment report due on Friday. But it could bolster the case that the growth in the labor market is lowering the need for the Federal Reserve to do more to stimulate the economy. Economists polled by Reuters expect the employment report will show the economy added 203,000 jobs last month, for a fourth consecutive month of solid job creation, marking the longest stretch of monthly employment gains topping 200,000 since 1999. Earlier Thursday, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that the number of planned layoffs at American companies fell in March to the lowest level in 10 months as the government sector cut fewer jobs. Stocks on Wall Street fell for a second consecutive day on Wednesday as investors contemplated a world without monetary stimulus and the poorly received bond auction in Spain suggested the effects of Europe's funding operations were waning. The benchmark S.&P. 500 index has fallen in eight of the past 12 sessions, dropping below its 14-day moving average for the first time in a month. The Nasdaq on Wednesday posted its worst daily percentage drop since Dec. 14.