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Stocks lifted at openTechs pace early advance as investors cheer economic reports, await new home sales.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks gained ground in early Thursday trading as investors cheered some economic reports and awaited key data on new home sales. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite index was 0.5 percent higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 0.3 percent. Among stocks in the news Thursday: Sallie Mae (Charts, Fortune 500), KB Home (Charts, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart Stores (Charts, Fortune 500), Verizon Communications (Charts, Fortune 500), Bed Bath & Beyond (Charts, Fortune 500) and Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500). |
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