By Pete Schroeder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. stocks painted a mixed picture Thursday as investors digested how strong economic news could inform the Federal Reserve’s thinking on interest rate hikes, while the dollar hit its highest level in over a year. After a solid opening, stocks retreated around midday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 dipping into negative territory, dropping 0.65% and 0.16%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.12%. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 countries, was down 0.48% Markets opened optimistically due to new…