US stocks rise in early trading after upbeat data

US stock indices rose on Thursday, lifted by the release of upbeat economic data, amid focus on Omicron variant.

The US House of Representatives voted to raise the debt ceiling to prevent any government shutdown.

The US Department of Labor revealed that the number of initial unemployment claims fell to 222K last week from 194K in the previous reading, bearing than forecasts of 238K.

The US health authorities reported the first case of the Omicron variant in California yesterday, sparking concerns in the markets.

India today also reported its first case, Netherlands and Belgium reported dozens of Omicron cases.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 1.1% or 380 points to 34,405 as of 15:21 GMT, and S&P 500 rose 0.6% or 29  points to 4,542, while Nasdaq fell 0.1% or 20 point to 15,233.