Wall Street scales fresh record highs on upbeat earnings

US stock indices hit fresh record highs at the open for Dow Jones, Standard and Poor's 500, and NASDAQ Composite on Wall Street; buoyed by Facebook's and Verizon's forecast-beating second-quarter earnings results. 

Earlier US data showed durable goods orders rose above expectations in June, as core orders, excluding transportation, slowed down unexpectedly. 

Similarly, the US goods trade deficit shrank more than expected, as wholesale inventories rose sharply in May past forecasts, and finally, unemployment claims rose more than expected last week. 

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve voted to maintain overnight interest rates at between 1% and 1.25% in the Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting in Washington, while asserting their intention to start normalizing their massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year. 

As of 03:20 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.13%, or 3.30 points to 2,481.13, while Dow Jones added 0.30%, or 65.17 points to 21,776.18. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.43%, or 27.49 points to 6,450.23.