* U.S. consumer prices fall in Sept, most in 8 months
* Weekly jobless claims fall to 255,000
* Goldman down, Citi up after results
* Netflix down after weak Q3 results
* Indexes up: Dow 0.15 pct, S&P 0.34 pct, Nasdaq 0.57 pct (Updates to open)
By Abhiram Nandakumar
Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, after two days of losses, as investors assessed economic data and earnings reports from major banks.
As the reporting season gathers steam, investors will be parsing quarterly results to gauge the impact of a slowing global economy on U.S. companies.
Global stocks rebounded from two days of losses as investors bet the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates until 2016. The Fed has said it will pull the trigger only if it sees signs of a sustainable economic recovery.
Data released on Thursday painted contrasting pictures of the state of the U.S. economy. While consumer prices posted their biggest drop in eight months in September, unemployment benefit claims fell in the last week.
Goldman Sachs (N:GS) GS.N shares fell 1.5 percent to $176.83 after the investment bank reported third-quarter results below expectations, hurt by weak bond trading.
Citigroup (N:C) C.N rose 1 percent to $51.19 after the third biggest U.S. bank's results beat estimates.
"I think we could be looking at a bumpy mixed positive session," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York, adding that the market could turn as investors digest news through the day.
At 9:37 a.m. ET (1337 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 25.35 points, or 0.15 percent, at 16,950.1, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 6.72 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,000.96 and the Nasdaq composite index .IXIC was up 27.11 points, or 0.57 percent, at 4,809.96.
Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were up, with the financial sector's .SPSY 0.9 percent rise leading the advancers.
HCA Holdings HCA.N shares sank 9.9 percent to $68.50 after the country's largest for-profit hospital operator said it expects third-quarter profit below expectations.
The stock weighed on the S&P health sector .SPXHC , dragging down other health care stocks including UnitedHealth UNH.N , which was the biggest drag on the Dow.
Third-quarter results from major U.S. banks have been mixed so far, with only Wells Fargo (N:WFC) WFC.N reporting a rise in revenue and income from interest on loans.
The outlook for broader corporate earnings also does not look too bright. S&P 500 companies are expected to report a 4.2 percent decline in third-quarter profit, the biggest in six years, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Wal-Mart (N:WMT)'s WMT.N profit warning on Wednesday spooked investors, sparking the stock's biggest single-day loss in 25 years and dragging the overall market lower.
Schlumberger SLB.N , Mattel MAT.O and Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O report after the close.
New York Fed President William Dudley and St Louis Fed President James Bullard are scheduled to speak at separate events on Thursday.
Valeant Pharma's U.S.-listed shares VRX.N sank 9.3 percent to $160.85 after the Canadian drugmaker said it had been subpoenaed by U.S. prosecutors over its drug pricing policies.
Netflix NFLX.O slid 6.9 percent to $102.60 after the video-streaming service said U.S. subscriber additions came in below expectations for the third quarter.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,731 to 902. On the Nasdaq, 1,548 issues rose and 578 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed two new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded five new highs and 12 new lows.