Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened moderately higher on Thursday, as the release of upbeat U.S. data fuelled fresh optimism over the strength of the country's ecomomic recovery.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15%, the S&P 500 added 0.19%, while the Nasdaq Composite index edged up 0.10%.
Market research group Markit said that its preliminary U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index increased to 56.7 this month from a final reading of 53.7 in January, expanding at the fastest pace since May 2010 in February. Analysts had expected the index to dip to 53.0 this month.
In addition, the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 3,000 to 336,000, slightly below expectations for a decline of 4,000.
The Labor Department also said U.S. consumer prices rose 1.6% on a year-over-year basis in January, in line with forecasts. Consumer prices were 0.1% higher from a month earlier, also matching forecasts.
Core consumer prices, which strip out food and energy costs, were also up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis and 0.1% from the previous month.
The data came after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting indicated that that the current pace of its decrease in bond purchases would remain unchanged, so long as the economy shows signs of improvement.
U.S.-traded Actavis shares rallied 2.17% after the generic drugmaker posted announced a 59% net revenue increase to $2.78 billion and an earnings per share loss of 86 cents. Earlier in the week, the company said it was buying rival Forest Laboratories for around USD25 billion.
In the financial sector, Bank of America gained 0.47% amid reports the U.S. lender awarded Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan $14 million for last year, increasing his pay by 17% after profit more than doubled.
Elsewhere, Twenty-First Century Fox's television network added 0.14% after it won a court order halting Barry Diller-backed Aereo's online-TV service in Utah, while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether it infringes broadcasters’ copyrights.
On the downside, Facebook dropped 0.41% after the announcement of its $16 billion acquisition of mobile messaging firm WhatsApp. The purchase is Facebook's largest yet.
Wal-Mart plummeted 1.90% after reporting fourth quarter earnings and revenue that missed analysts' estimates.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.36%, France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.11%, Germany's DAX tumbled 0.97%, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.17%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.19%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged 2.15%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.