U.S. stocks rise, focus on Spanish budget; Dow Jones up 0.35%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, as markets awaited Spain's budget announcement later in the day, although globally disppointing U.S. economic reports limited gains.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.35%, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.39%, while the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.23%.

Official data showed that the U.S. gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.3% during the second quarter, down from a previous estimate of 1.7%. Analysts had expected the U.S. economy to grow at a rate of 1.7%.

A separate report showed that total durable goods orders sank by a seasonally adjusted 13.2% in August, compared to expectations for a 5.0% decline, after climbing at a revised rate of 3.3% in July.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending September 22 fell by 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000, compared to expectations for a decrease of 7,000 to 378,000.

Meanwhile, investors remained cautious as Spain’s government was due to unveil its draft budget statement for 2013, amid ongoing speculation over whether Madrid will seek a full-scale sovereign bailout, which would trigger the European Central Bank’s bond buying program.

Auto stocks were higher, led by Ford Motor, up 1%, as the biannual Paris Motor Show kicked off on Wednesday, with carmakers eager to show off the latest technologies to help them compete in a market that is looking increasingly crowded. General Motors rose 0.30% at the U.S. open.

According to recent reports, European car sales slipped by 8.6% in the first eight months of the year, due to the effects of the euro zone's debt crisis. Ford saw European sales drop by 29% over the same period.

In the tech sector, Hewlett-Packard dropped 0.58% after Jefferies cut its rating on the tech giant to "underperform" from "hold" and lowered its target to USD14 from USD17.

In company news, Hartford rallied 2.57% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Prudential is near an agreement to buy the financial services company's individual life insurance division.

Also on the upside, Starbucks rose 0.34%, as the world’s largest coffee-shop operator was is preparing to open its first city-center stores in Sweden and Norway next year, with hopes of boosting sales in Europe.

Elsewhere, U.S. lenders were broadly higher. Shares in JP Morgan added 0.10% and Citigroup rose 0.28%, while Goldman Sachs and Bank of America advanced 0.75% and 1.93% respectively.

Other stocks in focus included Nike, Discover Financial and Micron Technology, due to report results later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.68%, Germany's DAX rose 0.32%, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.21%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.14%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.48%.

Also Thursday, stocks strengthened amid reports the People’s Bank of China injected a record CNY365 billion, or USD58 billion, this week into the Chinese banking system, easing liquidity conditions ahead of the end of the current quarter and before the Golden Week holidays next week.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on pending home sales.