Wall Street was higher in late morning trading on Thursday as Apple shares and health stocks lifted the market ahead of the crucial Federal Reserve meeting next week.
Apple's (AAPL.O) 1.8 percent rise gave the biggest boost to the three major indexes a day after the iPhone maker unveiled new offerings.
Gilead's (GILD.O) 2.6 percent was the second-biggest boost on the S&P and the Nasdaq.
Global markets were under pressure earlier in the day after data showed a drop in producer prices and car sales in China and slowing capital spending in Japan.
"We need to see more positive government action from China. They have all these levers to pull which they aren't even as data gets more negative," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.
Adding to the downward pressure, influential fund manager David Tepper of Appaloosa Management told CNBC that corporate earnings may not rise as much as expected and he was not overly bullish on stocks next year.
U.S. stocks have been volatile for the past few weeks ever since China devalued its currency in August and the impact of a slowdown in the region on global growth rattled investors. The S&P 500 has seen moves of about 1 percent in the past few weeks.
"Volatility is here to stay for the rest of the fourth quarter because even if the Fed doesn't raise rates next week, it is signaling that there is weakness in the economy," said Mohannad Aama, Managing Director at Beam Capital Management in New York.
Data released on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting a moderation in job growth in August was an aberration. Initial claims fell by 6,000 to 275,000.
At 11:19 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 35.41 points, or 0.22 percent, at 16,288.98, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 4.08 points, or 0.21 percent, at 1,946.12 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 23.29 points, or 0.49 percent, at 4,779.82.
Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher with the technology index's .SPLRCT 0.97 percent rise leading the advancers.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW.N) was up 7.1 percent at $177.02 after the cyber security company reported its strongest revenue growth in 10 quarters and forecast better-than-expected growth in the current quarter.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD.N) fell 11.8 percent to $15.64, a day after the doughnut chain cut its 2016 profit forecast.
Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O) was down 12.3 percent at $56.15 after the yogawear retailer's gross margins continue to be under pressure as it spends more on product development and sourcing.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,631 to 1,239. On the Nasdaq, 1,597 issues rose and 1,008 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed 1 new 52-week high and 6 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 16 new highs and 33 new lows
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Reporting: Tanya Agrawal.
Editing: Don Sebastian.
Facebook rakes in users in Nigeria and Kenya
Photo: Pixabay
Facebook opened its first African office in Johannesburg in June as the continent's growing population and relatively low levels of internet access present a large untapped market for the social network to earn advertising revenue.
The numbers, the first Facebook has published for Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and Kenya, East Africa's most developed, show the two nations as important entry points on a continent of nearly one billion people.
Nigeria had 15 million monthly active users as of June 30 this year, all of them using mobiles to like, share and upload content on the social network. In Kenya, 95 percent of the 4.5 million monthly active users did so via mobiles
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"Mobile is not a trend; it's the fastest adoption of disruptive technology in history of communication," said Nunu Ntshingila, Facebook's head of Africa, in a statement.
South Africa has 12 million monthly active Facebook users, the data showed, and Facebook says with its strong advertising partnerships in Africa it would use the new office in Johannesburg to expand its business across the continent.
Facebook said its active user population in Africa grew 20 percent to 120 million in June from 100 million in September last year. A large portion of these users were in North Africa.
Reporting: TJ Strydom.
Editing: James Macharia and Mark Potter.
(REUTERS)
Review: Emerging Market Formulations and Research Unit, FLAGSHIP RECORDS.
For The #FacebookTeam.