NKE Nike Inc

By Ellie Ismailidou and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Bank of England delivers stimulus; U.S. jobless claims rise

U.S. stocks inched higher in early trade Thursday, following a decision by the Bank of England to cut its key interest rate for the first time in seven years and to expand its quantitative-easing program.

The S&P 500 index added less than 2 points, or about 0.1%, to 2,166, led by a 0.4% gain in consumer staples, followed by a 0.2% rise in industrials. Two of the index's 10 sectors were in negative territory, led by a 0.1% drop in health-care stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 37 points, or 0.2%, at 18,393, led by a 1.1% gain in Nike Inc.(NKE) but weighed by a 0.9% drop in Walt Disney Co.(DIS).

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6 points, or 0.1%, at 5,166.

The BOE cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.25%, which met market expectations. However, the central bank also said it would buy up to GBP10 billion ($13.18 billion) of corporate bonds and expand its quantitative-easing program by GBP60 billion to GBP435 billion.

Check out:Live blog of the Bank of England decision and press conference (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2016/08/04/live-blog-bank-of-england-expected-to-cut-interest-rates-on-super-thursday/)

Meanwhile, in the U.S. the number of people who applied for first-time unemployment benefits (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-rise-3000-to-269000-2016-08-04) rose by 3,000 to 269,000, marking the highest level since the end of June, though claims still point to a healthy labor market. The claims data came a day ahead of the July nonfarm-payrolls report, which could be pivotal for the Federal Reserve's future monetary policy.

"Ahead of tomorrow's July payroll report, the pace of firings remains modest," said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. However, "a benign pace of firings doesn't contradict a slowing rate of job growth," Boockvar said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2016 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)

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