Wall Street looks to hold on to gains despite turmoil

NEW YORK: Wall Street opened higher on Thursday, with buoyant markets looking to add to gains earned this week despite disruptions from Hurricane Harvey and North Korea.

Investors also were likely to take some comfort from the dimming chances for another interest rate increase this year after government data again showed tame inflation in July.

About 10 minutes into the session, all three major indices had risen about 0.4 percent over the prior day's close.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 21,969.84, while the broader S&P had risen to 2,467.00, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged higher to 6,396.48.

"In light of the devastation wrought this week in Texas by Hurricane Harvey, and the provocative missile launch by North Korea, it's a testament to the underlying bullish bias that the stock market has fared as well as it has," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

Shares in commercial banking giant Wells Fargo fell 0.4 percent after the company disclosed Thursday it discovered an additional 1.4 million phony accounts -- part of a scandal that has already claimed the scalp of one CEO at the bank.

Investors also were cheered by economic data released overnight in China, including a better-than-expected reading for the Purchasing Manager Index for August.

After taking a battering in early the week due to the idling of a fifth of US refining capacity by Hurricane Harvey, oil stocks were on the rise.

ConocoPhillips had gained 0.7 percent, while Chevron was up 0.4 percent and ExxonMobil rose 0.3 percent.