New York: Wall Street stocks advanced early Thursday as solid US employment data offset worries about American trade tensions with China and the European Union.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 24,291.36, up 0.5 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 2,725.48, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 7,550.73.
Private US firms added 177,000 employees last month, according to payrolls firm ADP, a bit below the pace in May but a level that was still seen as solid.
The figures come ahead of the more closely-scrutinized Department of Labor report on Friday.
The Federal Reserve will release minutes from the June central bank meeting later on Thursday.
Investors remain nervous over trade, with US tariffs on $30 billion or more in Chinese imports slated to take effect just after midnight Thursday, a move that is expected to spark retaliation tariffs from Beijing.
The US trading relationship with Europe is also in focus, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Thursday she was open to talks with trading partners on lowering automobile tariffs but that they would have to take place on a multilateral basis and not just with the United States.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on auto imports, much of which come from Europe.
AFP