NEW YORK - WALL Street shrugged off a series of grim corporate and economic reports and swung higher in opening trade on Tuesday as the market awaited a likely cut in interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 59.74 points (0.70 per cent) to 8,624.27 and the Nasdaq added 21.08 points (1.40 per cent) to 1,529.42 in the first trades, rebounding from losses on Monday.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 9.71 points (1.12 per cent) to 878.28.

The market cautiously awaited a decision by Federal Reserve policymakers, who were expected to cut the base lending rate from its current historic low of 1.0 per cent, bringing the rate close to zero in an effort to stimulate the economy.

Traders looked past an unprecedented loss by Wall Street icon Goldman Sachs as well as a plunge in US housing starts to a new record low and a record steep fall in consumer prices that highlighted fears about deflation.

'When bad news produces good results, that is a very good development,' said Al Goldman at Wachovia Securities.

'No one knows when a market is totally washed out, but one strong indication is when bad is good.' -- AFP