Wall Street higher midday despite GDP and jobless data misses

12.10pm: US stocks move up in midday trading as the Dow and S&P 500 hit record highs   US benchmarks were higher at the noon hour as investors dismissed economic data indicating slower-than-expected growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188 points to 35,119, while the S&P 500 gained 24 at 4,425. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, meanwhile, climbed 48 points to 14,810. “Bad news is good news for investors today, with a raft of underwhelming data out of the US allaying concerns over a tightening of the monetary tap at the Federal Reserve,” IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony said. “Yesterday’s FOMC meeting largely delivered a message for both sides, with Powell’s plans to hold off on tapering talk undermined by the economic improvements which point in that direction,” Mahony added. Economic data released today showed the US economy grew an annualized 6.5% in the second quarter, up from 6.4% but well shy of the expected 8.4%, while weekly jobless claims fell, but much less than expected. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped by 24,000 last week to 400,000, but this was higher than the forecast figure of 385,000. Notable stock movers included Facebook Inc, which saw its shares fall more than 3% after the social media giant suggested an Apple iOS app-tracking update would negatively impact its core advertising business.   And, shares of Amazon.com Inc edged 0.5% lower ahead the company’s 2Q financial results after today’s market close. 9.55am: Proactive North America headlines: FOBI Wallet Pass for ticketing and fan engagement powers bdG Sports Baha Mar Hoops Tournament Energy Fuels strikes strategic alliance for the recovery of isotopes needed for emerging cancer therapeutics Roth Capital Partners repeats 'Buy' on New Pacific Metals (TSX:NUAG, NYSE:NEWP) Corp following drill start at Silver Sand Heritage Cannabis Holdings says Q2 revenues soar 250% quarter-over-quarter; provides operations update Nomad Royalty (TSX:NSR) Company reports revenue of US$4.6M in 2Q and expects more growth in coming years Spotlite360 Technologies (CSE:LITE) inks software license agreement with Apollo Sciences, a vertically integrated producer and distributor of hemp in Colorado Tocvan Ventures prepares next steps for Pilar project after successful first and second phase drilling Else Nutrition kicks off clinical study to validate growth benefits of its plant-based nutrition Empress Royalty executes US$10M gold stream agreement on Sierra Antapite mine in Peru GameSquare Esports sees strong revenue growth in 2Q driven by Code Red’s influencer vertical Ximen Mining updates on findings of hydrogeology study at its Kenville gold mine project in BC Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX:TBP, OTCQB:TBPMF) files a PCT patent application for 'Cannabis Plant Residue and Use Thereof 9.38am: Wall Street opens in green The main indices on Wall Street opened in the green on Thursday despite both the US GDP and jobless claims figures falling short of market predictions. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.62% at 35,142 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.39% to 4,417 and the Nasdaq rose 0.12% to 14,779. The positive start came despite disappointing news that the US economy by an annualised 6.5% in the second quarter, up from 6.4% but well shy of the expected 8.4%. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims fell, but much less than expected. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped by 24,000 last week to 400,000, but this was higher than the forecast figure of 385,000. The previous week's figure, which already showed an unexpected increase, was revised up from 419,000 to 424,000. However, the data may have eased market fears that the US economy was overheating and thus lowered the chance of interest rate rises from the Federal Reserve any time soon. 7:50am: Wall Street to start on a mixed note Wall Street is set for a mixed opening despite the US Federal Reserve showing no signs of rushing to remove its support for the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is forecast to climb 137 points or 0.35% but the S&P 500 is expected to open just 0.1% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite is indicated 0.26% lower. The fall in the Nasdaq comes as two of its constituents are expected to open lower. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is down nearly 3.5% in pre-market trading following its results after the market closed on Wednesday, while PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Inc is also lower, down more than 5%. Both warned of a slowdown in growth, which has not gone down well. Meanwhile, Amazon Inc is due to report results after the market closes today. The second-quarter figures are expected to show strong growth after its Prime Day sales event was brought forward from July to June, and they will also be the last overseen by Jeff Bezos, who stepped down as chief executive at the start of this month. There is also the small matter of the debut of trading platform Robinhood, which yesterday priced its shares at the lower end of the expected range. Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK said: "It’s.. a big day for Robinhood as it gets set for its first day of trading as a public company, when the US markets open later this afternoon, in what is expected to be one of the biggest IPO’s this year, after Coinbase’s direct listing. It’s a particularly challenging time for IPO’s with sentiment as it is now and given how, after a lot of hype, Coinbase is now trading below its $250 indicative price after a big surge on day one." Before that come more indicators of the state of the US economy. The latest GDP figures are expected to show the economy grew by an annualised 8.5% in the second quarter, following a 6.4% increase in the previous three months, helped by stimulus cheques from the government. Also due are the weekly jobless claims, which rose unexpectedly to 419,000 last time round but are forecast to fall back to 385,000. Four things to watch for on Thursday: Aside from the major earnings today from the likes of Amazon, investors will also be eyeing numbers from firms including telecoms firm T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS), real estate group America Tower Corp and capital markets firm S&P Global Inc Shares in Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) may draw attention following reports one of its major backers, SoftBank, plans to sell a third of its stake in the ride-hailing firm Uber’s Chinese peer Didi Inc is also in focus amid reports it could delist from the market On the macro front, aside from US GDP data and jobless claims, there may be some interest in pending home sales data