Stocks Peek Higher Early

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock indexes peeked higher in morning trading on Thursday, and the slight gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 put the index on track for its longest winning streak in four years.

Trading was again mostly quiet around the world, and markets were closed at several of Asia's big exchanges due to holidays.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 rose 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,543, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. If the gain holds, it will be the eighth straight day where the index has climbed, which would be its longest such streak since 2013.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 22, or 0.1 percent, to 22,684, and the Nasdaq composite added 16, or 0.3 percent, to 6,551. All three indexes closed at records on Wednesday.

POP THE CORK: Constellation Brands jumped to one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after it reported stronger earnings for the latest quarter, and it also raised its forecast for upcoming profit. The company has been focusing on the higher end of the beer, wine and spirits markets.

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Its stock rose $9.29, or 4.6 percent, to $210.47.

NO CHILL: Netflix jumped after it raised the price on its most popular U.S. video streaming plan by 10 percent. Netflix stock gained $6.35, or 3.4 percent, to $190.80.

NAVIGATING ROUGHER WATERS: Student-loan servicing company Navient fell after it said it was buying Earnest, a lender, for $155 million and would suspend its stock buyback program through 2018.

Navient fell $1.50, or 10.3 percent, to $13.18 for the largest loss in the S&P 500.

ECONOMY WATCH: Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, which could be an indication that layoffs are slowing. Claims had jumped in earlier weeks after hurricanes struck Florida, Georgia and Texas.

The government will release its monthly update on jobs growth on Friday, and it's usually a big driver for markets. Many economists expect to see Friday's report show that hiring fell from a month earlier as a result of the hurricane damage.

Separate reports showed that orders at factories rebounded by a stronger margin than economists expected in August, and rising exports helped trim the nation's trade deficit to its lowest level in nearly a year.

YIELDS: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 2.34 percent from 2.32 percent late Wednesday. The two-year yield was flat at 1.48 percent, and the 30-year yield rose to 2.89 percent from 2.87 percent.

QUIET DAY OVERSESAS: In Asia, holidays in Shanghai, Hong Kong and South Korea kept markets closed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index was virtually flat.

In Europe, France's CAC 40 ticked up by 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX slipped 0.1 percent and the FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 112.62 Japanese yen from 112.98 yen late Wednesday. The euro dipped to $1.1726 from $1.1764, and the British pound slipped to $1.3145 from $1.3250.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 86 cents to $50.84 per barrel. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, advanced $1.07 to $56.87 per barrel.

(BE)

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