US stocks rally during early trade, Dow/S&P 500 hit fresh intraday record highs

Major US equity indices opened with strong gains on Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones and the broader S&P 500 printing fresh intraday record highs.

Investors looked past the recent escalation of the US-China trade tensions and the lack of new developments turned the focus back on improving US economic fundamentals and strong growth in corporate earnings.

In the latest economic data, initial weekly jobless claims decreased by 3,000 to their lower level since November 1969. Separately, the Philly Fed manufacturing index jumped more than expected, to 22.9 in September from 11.9 in the previous month.

Adding to this, a goodish rebound in technology stocks, which has been one of the worst-performing sectors in September, remained supportive of the prevalent bullish momentum during the opening hour of trade. 

At the time of writing this report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied in excess of 200-points to levels beyond 26,600 and the S&P 500 Index added over 15-points to 2,923. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed nearly 60-points and moved back above the 8,000 mark.