epa04990110 A sign displaying stock quotes near the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) near the end of the trading day in New York, New York, USA, 22 October 2015. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up over 320 points at 17,489.16. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT
NEW YORK: US stocks opened higher Tuesday as improving economic data from the eurozone and higher US construction data offset weak manufacturing statistics from China.
About 40 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,863.70, up 143.78 points (0.81%).
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 14.42 (0.69%) at 2,094.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 29.10 (0.57%) to 5,137.77.
Eurozone data showed the purchasing managers index rose to 52.8 in November from 52.3, while unemployment data hit its lowest level in nearly four years in October.
In the US, Commerce Department statistics showed construction spending rose 1% in October compared with September, beating analyst expectations for an increase of 0.7%.
E-commerce giant Amazon climbed 1.0% as it said it notched big sale gains of its streaming media player Amazon Fire TV. Separately, Barclays raised its price target on Amazon shares from US$700 to US$850.
Morgan Stanley rose 1.9% following reports it plans to cut hundreds of jobs in its bond and currency trading divisions following a downturn in those businesses.
Mattress Firm Holding Corp jumped 7.4% after announcing it would acquire rival HMK Mattress Holdings, parent of the Sleepy’s chain, for US$780mil. The combined company will operate about 3,500 stores across the US. - AFP
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