(MENAFN- AFP) Wall Street stocks moved higher Thursday in early trade following mixed US economic data as the market awaited the outcome of Scotland's independence referendum.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 67.21 points (0.39 percent) to 17,224.06, building on Wednesday's record after the Federal Reserve signaled it would keep interest rates near zero well into 2015.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 7.61 (0.38 percent) to 2,009.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 23.78 (0.52 percent) to 4,585.97.
New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits fell last week, declining by 36,000 to 280,000 and returning to a improving labor-market trend.
But Commerce Department data showed a 14.4 percent drop in new US home construction in August and a 5.6 percent fall in building permits.
Investors are watching the Scotland vote, with some analysts predicting economic troubles to the region from a "yes" vote because of uncertainty over how Scotland would extricate itself from the rest of the United Kingdom.
Drugstore chain Rite Aid plummeted 14.0 percent as it lowered its fiscal 2015 profit forecast due in part to reduced sales from new generic drugs replacing medications with patent exclusivity. The company projected full-year earnings of 22-33 cents per share, below the 34 cents seen by Wall Street analysts.
ConAgra Foods, a packaged foods company, gained 2.1 percent as fiscal first-quarter earnings of 39 cents per share came in four cents above analyst expectations.
Air Products and Chemicals rose 2.6 percent as it unveiled a reorganization of its business units and confirmed its fourth-quarter profit forecast of $1.60-$1.65 per share, a level that could set a new quarterly earnings record.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.62 percent from 2.60 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year held steady at 3.36 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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