NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The Nasdaq climbed Thursday morning, extending the recent two-day advance, but the Dow industrials struggled amid weakness in component Boeing following a downgrade.

The Nasdaq composite (up 5.28 to 2,268.74, Charts) added 0.3 percent, thanks to strength in chip stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 0.08 to 10,880.07, Charts) was little changed in the early going, the broader S&P 500 (up 1.15 to 1,274.61, Charts) index added a few points.

Stocks rallied Tuesday and Wednesday, the first two sessions of the new year, as investors welcomed hints that the Federal Reserve's 18-month rate-hiking campaign may be nearing an end.

But the tone was more subdued Thursday morning as investors digested the first wave of retail holiday sales reports and geared up for some key economic news in the first hour of trading.

Wal-Mart Stores (unchanged at $46.32, Research) reported a weaker-than-expected rise of 2.2 percent in its December same-store sales, or sales at stores open a year or more. The leading retailer also said fourth-quarter profit would come in near the lower end of its previous forecast of 82 cents to 86 cents.

Shares were barely lower at the open.

Among other stock movers, Dow component Boeing (down $0.87 to $70.30, Research) slipped close to 2 percent after Banc of America Securities downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" due to valuation, Reuters said. Boeing was the Dow's best-performing stock in 2005.

Investors also took in the weekly jobless claims report, which showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell by a larger-than-expected 35,000 last week to the lowest level in five years.

U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 14 cents to $63.28 a barrel in electronic trading.

Due later were the weekly oil inventories report, and the December read on the services sector of the economy from the Institute for Supply Management.

Treasury prices edged lower, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.36 percent from around 4.35 percent late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar gained versus the euro and fell versus the yen.

COMEX gold for February delivery slipped $6.80 to $528.80 an ounce.

In global trade, major Asian markets ended higher and European markets were mixed at midday.