NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks resumed their upward climb early Thursday following a stream of mostly strong earnings from Merck, Caterpillar and others as investors shrugged off a lackluster US growth report.

Shares of Ford jumped 12.6 percent while Merck won 4.2 percent following the latest round of earnings in a week jammed with results. Apple and Amazon report later Thursday.

Those upbeat reports overshadowed data showing the US economy grew by just two percent in the third quarter, down from the 6.7 percent annual rate in the prior quarter as resurgent Covid-19 infections slowed consumer activity.

But a note from Schwab described the US growth data as "backward-looking," adding that it was offset by "more timely" jobless claims data that improved.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 35,670.24.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 4,580.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also climbed 0.6 percent to 15,331.33.

Markets are monitoring ongoing talks in Washington, where congressional Democrats are struggling to reach an agreement on President Joe Biden's infrastructure and social spending legislation.