Weak US data cuts Wall Street New Year gains

Wall Street stocks rose in early trade Friday in the first session of 2015, although the gains were limited by lackluster reports on US construction spending and manufacturing activity.
About 45 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,893.53, up 70.46 points (0.40 percent.)
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 3.84 (0.19 percent) to 2,062.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 15.46 (0.33 percent) to 4,751.51.
Opening gains were muted by fresh data releases. US construction spending fell 0.3 percent in November, while the Institute for Supply Management said its index of manufacturing activity dropped to 55.5 in December from 58.7 in November. Both reports were below analyst expectations.
The S&P 500 gained 11.4 percent during 2014 on a combination of a steadily improving US economy and the Federal Reserve's ultra-low interest rates.
Key questions for 2015 include the impact of falling oil prices, prospects for the Fed to raise rates, and slower growth in Europe and emerging economies.
Drugstore chain Rite Aid rose 2.4 percent after reporting that same-store sales increased 5.3 percent in December compared with the year-ago period.
Linn Energy rose 10.8 percent as it announced that Blackstone Group will finance drilling programs for Linn in exchange for a payout on successful wells.
Linn also cut its 2015 capital spending budget by 53 percent and said it would trim its dividend to $1.25 per share from $2.90 due to the drop in oil prices.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.17 percent, while the 30-year dipped to 2.74 percent from 2.75 percent Wednesday. Bond yields and prices move inversely.