US stocks edge up ahead of presidential debate, inflation data

Wall Street stocks edged higher early Thursday as markets digested muted economic data while awaiting the US presidential debate and influential inflation figures.

"I think it is a bit of watch and wait," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers, alluding to the Thursday night debate between President Joe Biden and predecessor Donald Trump, as well as Friday's pricing data.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than 0.1 percent at 39,142.38.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 5,488.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent to 17,863.99.

The government estimated first-quarter gross domestic product at 1.4 percent, up from 1.3 percent in the prior estimate.

Among individual stocks, Walgreens Boots Alliance slumped more than 23 percent as the pharmacy chain lowered its full-year profit forecast, citing "challenging pharmacy industry trends and a worse-than-expected US consumer environment."

Micron Technology fell 4.8 percent despite reporting solid profits and higher sales. Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare called the decline "sell-the-news" response after earlier gains by the chipmaker.