NEW YORK, Sept 27 — Wall Street stocks opened mostly lower early today as markets monitored key talks in Washington to keep the government open and avoid a debt default and digested better-than-expected economic data.

Facing Republican opposition, congressional Democrats are struggling to navigate a path for President Biden’s ambitious agenda for infrastructure and social spending.

Their most immediate concern will be to avoid a government shutdown. Lawmakers have until September 30 to pass a funding bill, even a temporary one, to keep the government operating.

In economic news, a surge in civilian aircraft purchases sparked a surprise jump in sales of big-ticket manufactured US goods in August, according to government data.

This week’s calendar also includes reports on consumer confidence and personal income and spending.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.6 per cent to 34,990.13.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.3 per cent to 4,441.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.0 per cent to 14,894.72.

Among individual companies, MGM Resorts International rose 1.8 per cent after reaching agreement to acquire "The Cosmopolitan” resort in Las Vegas from Blackstone. Blackstone fell 2.2 per cent.

Facebook dropped 1.2 per cent as it announced it is suspending development of a version of its Instagram photo-sharing app for children aged under 13, after widespread criticism of the plan. — AFP