Wall Street opens flat as energy stocks, trade worries weigh

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened flat on Thursday, weighed down by declines in energy stocks as oil prices fell and worries over protectionist trade policies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.45 points, or 0.04 percent, at the open to 24,877.36. The S&P 500 opened lower by 2.35 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,730.94. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.97 points, or 0.05 percent, to 7,421.99 at the opening bell.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)