US open: Dow advances more than 460 points at the bell

Wall Street stocks traded mostly higher early on Thursday as market participants braced for quarterly numbers from more of the nation's biggest names in technology.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.47% at 32,308.26, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.47% to 3,848.75 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.18% weaker at 10,951.73.

The Dow opened 469.15 points higher on Thursday, easily outperforming its two-point gain on Wednesday.

Disappointing results from Meta Platforms were in focus at the open, with shares in the Facebook parent company falling as much as 20% in the pre-market on the back of weak fourth-quarter guidance and weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Meta also cautioned that it will now lose even more money in 2023 due to its efforts to further develop its ambitious metaverse, a revelation that has led multiple analysts to downgrade the stock.

Big-name tech earnings will continue to draw an amount of investor attention on Thursday, with results from Amazon, Apple and Intel on deck after the close.

Outside of the tech space, trade bellwether Caterpillar traded higher after the industrial giant beat expectations with its latest set of quarterly results, while McDonald's posted an earnings beat as diners continued to patronise the fast food behemoth despite increased prices. Merck also lifted its full-year profit guidance after posting third-quarter sales and profit beats, with annual sales seen at between $58.5bn and $59.0bn.

On the macro front, the US economy bounced back in the third quarter, according to data released on Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.6%, coming in ahead of expectations for a 2.4% increase and marking the first jump this year after six months of contraction. In the second quarter, GDP contracted by 0.6%. The biggest contribution to growth in Q3 came from a narrowing of the trade deficit, as US retailers imported fewer items.

Elsewhere, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 22 October, increasing by 3,000 from the prior week's unrevised level to a total of 217,000. According to the Labor Department, the four-week moving average came to 219,000, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week's unrevised average.

Finally, new orders for durable goods rose 0.4% in September, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 0.2% print for August and beating market expectations for another 0.2% reading.

Across the pond, rate-setters in Frankfurt went ahead with a 75 basis point interest rate hike but refrained from any mention of quantitative tightening. In its policy statement, the European Central Bank did say that policymakers expected to raise rather "further" whilst sticking to their meeting-by-meeting approach.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $213.47 8.38%
Boeing Co. (BA) $141.37 5.66%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $265.14 3.32%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $100.34 1.96%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $179.49 1.75%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $179.76 1.51%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $339.80 1.22%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $105.85 1.16%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $125.50 1.12%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $35.89 1.07%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $146.75 -1.74%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $227.50 -1.65%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $91.29 -1.19%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $27.01 -0.74%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $541.57 -0.29%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $140.75 -0.28%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $171.99 -0.13%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $0.00 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $266.79 0.05%

S&P 500 - Risers

Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $120.80 10.86%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $213.47 8.38%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $33.60 6.67%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $34.73 6.50%
Boeing Co. (BA) $141.37 5.66%
Allegion (ALLE) $102.67 5.48%
Raymond James Fin Corp. (RJF) $112.52 5.24%
Everest Re Group Ltd. (RE) $295.86 5.07%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $361.62 4.86%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $814.48 4.76%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $100.88 -22.29%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $179.82 -18.87%
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $214.38 -6.77%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $292.35 -6.05%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $76.13 -4.00%
Baxter International Inc. (BAX) $55.47 -3.75%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $98.00 -3.69%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $10.56 -3.25%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $111.94 -3.22%
CBRE Group Inc (CBRE) $70.45 -3.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $33.60 6.67%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $123.47 6.00%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $361.62 4.86%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $814.48 4.76%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $133.25 3.33%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $37.88 2.61%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $36.15 2.47%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $158.49 2.43%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $2.35 2.40%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $14.30 2.14%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $100.88 -22.29%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $179.82 -18.87%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $83.59 -9.24%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $292.35 -6.05%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $39.36 -4.09%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $98.00 -3.69%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $111.94 -3.22%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $81.53 -3.16%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $92.11 -2.86%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $57.16 -2.82%