NEW YORK, Jan 27 — Wall Street stocks rose early today as good US economic data and solid earnings offset lingering unease over the pivot in Federal Reserve monetary policy.

The US economy grew at a better-than-expected 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, according to government data, concluding the strongest year for GDP expansion since 1984.

Analysts have also been broadly pleased with the deluge of corporate earnings this week, with several leading companies scoring higher profits despite ongoing pressures connected to Covid-19.

Apple, which is slated to report results after the closing bell, jumped more than two per cent in early trading.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.6 per cent at 34,717.46.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 1.6 per cent to 4,421.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.4 per cent to 13,743.28.

Stocks have been under pressure most of January, including yesterday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a likely interest rate increase in March.

Among individual companies, Tesla fell 3.9 per cent despite reporting record annual profits on surging sales as Chief Executive Elon Musk warned that supply chain problems would persist well into 2022.

Intel slumped 6.3 per cent on disappointment over the company’s first-quarter projections. 

Netflix jumped 6.7 per cent as billionaire investor Bill Ackman announced buying 3.1 million shares of the streaming service. — AFP