U.S. stocks open higher amid economic data

Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 22:19:41|Editor: huaxia

NEW YORK, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors digested a slew of newly-released economic data.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 189.86 points, or 0.69 percent, to 27,642.52. The S&P 500 climbed 17.38 points, or 0.52 percent, to 3,352.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 41.91 points, or 0.38 percent, to 11,127.16.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors rallied with financials up 0.9 percent in morning trading, leading the gainers. Communication services, however, struggled.

The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 31.4 percent in the second quarter amid mounting COVID-19 fallout, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous estimate in late August, the U.S. Commerce Department said in its third and final estimate released Wednesday.

The upward revision with the latest estimate primarily reflected an upward revision to personal consumption expenditures that was partly offset by downward revisions to exports and to non-residential fixed investment, according to the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

U.S. private sector employment increased by 749,000 jobs from August to September, U.S. payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported Wednesday.

"In September, the majority of sectors and company sizes experienced gains with trade, transportation and utilities; and manufacturing leading the way. However, small businesses continued to demonstrate slower growth," Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute, said in a statement.

U.S. equities closed lower on Tuesday as investors continued to grapple with coronavirus fears. Enditem

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