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| - US stocks were mostly higher in early trading Friday as the Dow and S&P 500 edged up from their record-setting session a day before, although tech shares were struggling. A raft of strong bank earnings and solid economic data pointing to an accelerating recovery from the Covid-19 downturn continued to buoy investors, with a rebound in homebuilding in March the latest bit of good news. After closing above 34,000 for the first time on Thursday, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent to 34,163.17 about an hour into the trading session. The broad-based S&P 500 also moved beyond Thursday's record, rising 0.2 percent to 4,177. But the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index started the day lower, dipping 0.2 percent to 14,006.34. "US stocks are looking to close out the week in the green amid another round of strong earnings and economic data, which is bolstering elevated expectations for 2021 prosperity," analysts at Charles Schwab investment bank said. Morgan Stanley was the latest bank to report solid profits but said it lost $911 million due to the implosion of Archegos Capital Management. Morgan Stanley shares fell 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, government data showed US housing starts jumped 19.4 percent in March, recovering sharply after severe winter storms in February forced a pause in construction, which is needed to keep up with homebuyer demand. Toll Brothers homebuilders rose 2.3 percent, while KB Home gained 2.7 percent. hs/cs
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