US open: Stocks edge higher as investors digest data slew

US stocks edged tentatively higher in early trade on Thursday as investors digested the latest readings on growth, jobs and manufacturing, although volumes were thinner than usual as we head towards the Christmas break.

At 1455 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% to 24,784.09, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were 0.1% firmer at 2,683.11 and 6,966.18, respectively.

On Wednesday, stocks closed little changed overall after the House and the Senate passed a $1.5trn tax reform bill, sending it to President Trump for his signature. The bill, which Trump hailed as a “historic victory for the American people", will see corporate tax cut to 21% from 35%, while income tax rates will be reduced across all seven individual tax brackets.

It will give individuals and married couples who fall into the highest income bracket of $500,000 and over the largest tax cut, to 37% from 39.6%.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "With tax reform having been priced in over the course of the year, including a late push in recent weeks as details of the bill became clear and progress through Congress was made, it’s evident that it is already priced in. While we’re not yet seeing signs of corrections following - in buy the rumour sell the fact fashion - markets may struggle for positive catalysts over the next week or so."

Figures released earlier showed third-quarter economic growth in the US was revised down a touch amid weaker consumer spending.

The final reading of gross domestic product showed a 3.2% annualised increase, down from a previous estimate of 3.3% growth. Still, it was the fastest pace since the first quarter of 2015 and up from 3.1% growth in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits grew more than expected last week, according to data from the Labor Department.

US initial jobless claims rose 20,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 245,000. Economists had been expecting a smaller increase to 231,000. The four-week moving average came in at 236,000, up 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average.

Elsewhere, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly improved in December.

The Philly Fed index for current manufacturing activity in the region rose to 26.2 from 22.7 the month before, beating expectations for a drop to 21.5. Both the current new orders and shipments indexes also improved this month, increasing 8 points and 2 points, respectively.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "The Philly data - we look more at the weighted sub-indexes rather than the headline sentiment number - undershot relative to the national ISM in November, so we're inclined to see this rebound as mean-reversion rather than a signal of incremental strength in manufacturing. Still, we're happy to see more evidence that the recovery in the sector continues after two years of weakness triggered by the collapse in oil sector capex. The three-month high in new orders is especially welcome.

"Overall, we think the data are consistent with little change in the December ISM, following the trivial dip to a still-strong 58.2 in November."

In corporate news, tech giant Apple nudged up despite admitting to slowing down older iPhones to prevent unexpected shutdowns.

Elsewhere, biotech group Aeterna Zentaris surged after saying late on Wednesday that the US Food and Drug Administration approved one of its products for the diagnosis of adult growth hormone deficiency.

Shares in Long Island Iced Tea rocketed after the company said it was rebranding and changing its name to Long Blockchain Corp.

Conagra Brands was a little lower despite its quarterly profit and sales beating expectations, while Paychex fell even as its quarterly sales and profit also beat expectations.

Chipotle dropped as it emerged that public health officials in Los Angeles are reportedly investigating a possible foodborne illness outbreak at one of its restaurants.