NEW YORK, April 15 — Wall Street stocks were mostly higher as trading opened today following better-than-expected Chinese economic data, although weak IBM results weighed on the Dow.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent at 26,393.70.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to 2,909.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 per cent to 8,024.53.

China’s first-quarter growth came in at above expectations at 6.4 per cent following government stimulus measures, a report that eases concerns about slowing global growth.

In this holiday-shortened week, a trove of US companies reported earnings, with most seeing their shares rise following the results. Netflix gained 1.4 per cent, United Continental 4.1 per cent and PepsiCo 1.8 per cent.

But Dow member IBM sank 4.6 per cent after first-quarter sales of US$18.2 billion (RM75.3 billion) lagged analyst expectations.

Qualcomm shot up 15.2 per cent after the chip company reached an agreement in a long-standing dispute with Apple over royalties Qualcomm charges for its patented chips, which enable smartphones to connect to mobile networks.

The deal includes a six-year license agreement with the option to extend for two years, and a payment to Qualcomm from Apple, the companies said. Apple rose 0.7 per cent. — AFP