NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday following another round of mostly strong earnings and US data that showed strong second-quarter growth that lagged expectations. Facebook and Comcast were among the companies whose results topped earnings expectations, although Facebook shares retreated as it forecast cooler growth in the months ahead.

The US economy expanded 6.5 percent annualized in the second quarter, according to government data, a robust level but far below the 8.5 percent projected by analysts. The report came on the heels of the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday to maintain stimulus programs as it described the US economy as having progressed from the depths of the Covid-19, but still not fully recovered.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 35,051.13. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 4,417.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent to 14,804.62. Thursday's calendar includes Amazon earnings later in the day and the stock market debut of online trading platform Robinhood.