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New York - Wall Street stocks on Thursday moved higher in early trade as central banks in Europe and Britain kept interest rates unchanged and US weekly jobless claims fell.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42.19 points (0.26%) to 16 485.53.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 4.75 (0.25%) to 1 924.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.07 (0.32%) to more than 4 369.12.
Increasing evidence
The European Central Bank, as expected, kept its key interest rates unchanged at its regular policy meeting.
Similarly, the Bank of England held its main interest rate at a record-low 0.50% against a backdrop of solid British economic growth.
US jobless claims fell to 289 000 from the previous week's 303 000 for the week ending August 2, increasing evidence of a tightening jobs market.
Bank of America rose 0.3% as it neared a $16-17bn settlement with the US Justice Department to resolve allegations it misled investors on mortgage-linked securities.
Entertainment giant Twenty-First Century Fox vaulted 7.2% higher as earnings of 42 cents per share surpassed expectations by three cents on strong ticket sales for its X-Men blockbuster and other big movies.
Net income
Computer security firm Symantec gained 3.0% on a 50.3% rise in first-quarter net income to $236m.
Solar energy company SunEdison soared 13.3% higher as it reported adjusted profits of 12 cents per share, against a 28 cent loss projected by analysts.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.47%, while the 30-year dipped to 3.27% from 3.28% on Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
