New York: US stocks opened higher on Thursday as corporate earnings reports came out overall positive.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 112.60 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 26,364.72, reports Xinhua.
The S&P 500 increased 8.52 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 2,846.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 39.85 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7,454.90.
US construction machinery and equipment company Caterpillar said on Thursday that its fourth-quarter adjusted profit was $2.16 a share, topping Wall Street forecasts of $1.77 a share.
The Caterpillar stock rose four per cent in pre-market trading before slipping 0.4 per cent in the morning session.
US manufacturing company 3M on Thursday also reported earnings and revenue that beat market expectations. Shares of 3M rose 0.6 per cent in the morning session.
As of Thursday, 77 per cent of the S&P 500 companies that had reported surpassed earnings expectations, while 79 per cent of those companies had beaten sales estimates, according to US financial information company FactSet.
IANS