Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.03 percent to 13,038.87 while the NASDAQ rose 0.37 percent to 2,984.75. The S&P also rose, increasing 0.09 percent to 1,410.48.

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Lululemon (LULU, quote) released its third-quarter earnings report this morning, and the results looked good. Despite this, the company posted downbeat fourth-quarter guidance leading traders to drop the stock in early trading. Following this, shares saw an almost 6 percent jump, and have fallen since then.

Equities Trading UP

Epoch Investment Partners (EPHC, quote) gained 26.70 percent to $27.76 following the announcement of its merger with TD Bank Group.

Shares of Akami Technologies (AKAM, quote) were up as well, gaining 10.34 percent to $39.17 after the company announced a strategic alliance with AT&T.

Zynga (ZNGA, quote) also saw a gain, rising 6.44 percent to $2.47 after the company applied for a Nevada gaming license.

Equities Trading DOWN

Vera Bradley (VRA, quote) fell 10.87 percent to $23.36 after the company's earnings report post market on Wednesday.

Align Technology (ALGN, quote) was also down, falling 7.92 percent to $24.07 after the company issued a low fourth-quarter outlook and announced it would be cutting jobs.

Shares of Men's Wearhouse (MW, quote) traded down 3.41 percent to $30.28 after lowering its fiscal year guidance following the market close Wednesday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.21 percent to $86.82, while gold traded down 0.30 percent to $1,687.30.

Silver traded up 0.21 percent Thursday to $33.10.

Eurozone

In European headlines this morning, the ECB predicted a bleak 2013 after it decided to leave rates unchanged.

European markets responded well to the decision despite its implication that the EU had officially fallen into recession, and rose across the board.

Economics

In economic news Thursday morning, Initial jobless claims were reported at 370 thousand, below the predicted 380 thousand, but below the prior report of 395 thousand.

Continuing claims were also reported, coming in at 3.205 million, lower than the expected 3.275 million and the previous figure of 3.305 million.

Challenger job cuts were reported as well, coming in at 34.4 percent, far above the prior report of 11.60 percent.

Content courtesy of Benzinga written by Jake L'Ecuyer, Benzinga Staff Writer