U.S. stocks open higher amid earnings, data

U.S. stocks open higher on Thursday as investors were accessing a batch of quarterly earnings reports and economic data, as well as the Trump administration's tax reform plan.

The Trump administration on Wednesday unveiled the principles of the long-awaited tax reform plan that will significantly cut income taxes for Americans and corporates, ahead of the administration's first 100 days in office.

The plan would reduce the number of personal income tax brackets to three from seven, and it would cut the top individual income tax rate to 35 percent from 39.6 percent.

At the same time, the plan would cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, and it would also impose a one-time tax on overseas profits of U.S. companies.

On the earnings front, Ford reported first quarter total company revenue was 39.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 4 percent year on year, driven by favorable mix. However, profit fell year-on-year due to higher costs, lower volume and unfavorable exchange rates.

American Airlines reported first-quarter earnings of 0.46 dollar per diluted share, and a 2-percent increase in total revenue, to 9.6 billion dollars.

Alphabet, Amazon.com, Intel, Microsoft, and Starbucks are among companies set to report after the closing bell.

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased 1.6 billion dollars, or 0.7 percent, to 238.7 billion dollars, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Thursday.

In a separate report, the bureau said the international trade deficit was 64.8 billion dollars in March, up 0.9 billion dollars from 63.9 billion dollars in February.

In the week ending April 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 257,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level, according to the country's Department of Labor.

The 4-week moving average was 242,250, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 243,000 to 242,750.

Overseas, the European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate and monetary policy unchanged.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22.13 points, or 0.11 percent, to 20,997.22. The S&P 500 rose 1.26 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,388.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10.56 points, or 0.18 percent, to 6,035.79. Endi