US open: Mixed start to trading despite solid retail earnings

Wall Street stocks were mixed after the bell on Tuesday following some stronger-than-expected earnings from retail giants Walmart and Home Depot.

As of 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.34% at 27,750.65, while the S&P 500 was 0.03% softer at 3,380.91 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session 0.18% higher at 11,150.09.

The Dow opened 94.26 points lower on Tuesday, carrying on with the downward trajectory seen in the previous session.

Tuesday's main focus was earnings from some of the US' biggest retailers, with Walmart topping earnings and revenue estimates amid a surge in same-store and e-commerce sales, while Home Depot shares ticked up after quarterly sales surged 23% as Americans turned to do-it-yourself projects amid Covid-19 lockdowns.

Investors were also digesting a report from NBC that said Republicans in the Senate will look to introduce a narrow Covid-19 relief plan that includes $10.0bn for the embattled US Postal Service.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington also had investors on the edge of their seats, with the Trump administration announcing that it would further tighten restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei as part of an effort to crackdown on the firm's access to commercially available computer chips.

On the macro front, US housing starts rose more than expected in July as the sector recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, boosted by low mortgage rates, according to figures released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday.

Housing starts surged 22.6% on the month to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.496 million. This was ahead of expectations for a rate of 1.24m. Building permits also came in ahead of expectations, up 18.8% to 1.495m.

Turning back to corporate news, Advance Auto Parts shares were 2.09% higher in early trading after reporting a big profit beat as sales rise above forecasts, while Tesla shares surged nearly 350% after the bell ahead of its expected five-for-one split later in the month.