US stocks have opened higher, buoyed by a strong showing overnight in Asian markets and much better than expected US gross domestic product figures.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 160 points 16,445, the S&P 500 was 26 points heavier at 1,967 and the Nasdaq Composite was 69 points higher at 4,766.
The Shanghai Composite recovered from earlier losses on Thursday to stand 5.3% up by the close, but analysts said the rise may not have been all it seemed, with reports claiming that state-directed investors had bought stock to ensure a positive trading close.
“After a turbulent week in China some relief has been felt from bullish GDP figures in the US which were well above expectations at 3.7% for the annualised Q2 2015 levels. Whilst strong growth gives a bullish stance for the domestic picture in the US, this is not what Janet Yellen and her colleagues are currently worried about when rate hikes are in question," suggested Alex Lydall, senior sales trader at foreign exchange trading platform provider Foenix Partners.
“The main concern is risk appetite in the market. Currently the environment appears too volatile to warrant moving forward with rates, having already cited similar concerns– notably pre-China stock market collapse - in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Minutes in July. There is a distinct chance we will now see a post-October hike, and a cautious numerical hike too,” Lydall speculated.
As there was earlier this week, there was a bit of bid speculation to juice things, with St Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) advancing 3.5% on reports that Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), up 2.0%, is mulling a bid.
Upmarket jeweler Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) failed to sparkle with its quarterly earnings report, but after being down 4.2% ahead of the bell it had recovered to show a reduced loss of 0.6% after 45 minutes of official trading.
Further down the retail value chain Dollar General (NYSE:DG.) was also friendless after its trading update.
Net income rose to $282.3mln, or $0.95 per share, for the three months ended July 31, from $251.3mln, or $0.83 per share, a year earlier; that topped the $0.94 average estimate of 26 analysts polled by Capital IQ, but the shares still retreated to US$74.30 from US$76.71 overnight.
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), hardened US$1.32 to US$9.24 after it slashed its capital expenditure budget.
Investors tucked into spreads and preserves maker J.M.Smucker (NYSE:SJM) after its earnings update.
The maker of Smucker's jams and Jif peanut butter reported a better-than-expected 17.6% increase in fiscal first-quarter earnings, helped by strong sales in its U.S. coffee business, pushing the shares 7.2% higher at US$117.07.