Wall Street was mixed at the open on Thursday as traders weighed up earnings reports, as well as news that US private-sector firms were the most optimistic in two years.
According to the S&P Global Flash US Composite PMI, optimism rebounded sharply this month, hitting a 29-month high, a month after sinking to a 23-month low.
It comes as money markets predict a 60% chance of victory for Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election, compared with 39% for Kamala Harris.
The survey showed selling prices increased at the slowest pace in four years, helping the reading of output to rise to 54.3. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
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Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 ( ^FTSE ) and European stocks were higher on the day after the governor of the Bank of England (BoE) said that UK inflation was cooling more rapidly than expected.
Speaking at an event organised by the Institute of International Finance on Wednesday in Washington DC, Andrew Bailey said: “If you’d ask me what inflation was going to be now, it would have been a bit higher than it is today.
"Disinflation is happening I think faster than we expected it to, but we have still genuine question marks about whether there have been some structural changes in the economy."
Policymakers have gathered to discuss the state of the global economy. It comes as UK inflation hit a three-and-a-half year low of 1.7% in September, falling below the Bank’s 2% target.
Money markets predict a 89% chance of a rate cut from 5% to 4.75% in November.
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