US stocks rise on central bank action, US labor data

Wall Street stocks Thursday opened higher as central banks in Europe and Britain kept interest rates unchanged and US weekly jobless claims fell. Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57.54 points (0.35 per cent) to 16,500.88. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 7.99 (0.42 per cent) to 1,928.23, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 18.26 (0.42 per cent) to 4,373.31. 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 per cent against a backdrop of solid British economic growth. The Department of Labor said US jobless claims fell to 289,000 from the previous week's 303,000 for the week ending August 2, indicating a tightening jobs market, according to AFP.