US open: Mixed trading on the Street as Nasdaq hits record high

Wall Street trading started on a mixed note, despite a solid reading with the Nasdaq Composite opening slightly higher, setting a fresh all-time high in the process, as investors digested a better-than-expected reading on the US services sector.

Nevertheless, traders were also monitoring the incoming news-flow out of Italy, with the new Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, having promised to take a hard line on what he described as the business of human trafficking with immigrants and to push for the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia.

As of 1611 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.25% or 61.58 points to 24,752.46, while the S&P 500 was dipping 0.12% or 3.26 points to 2,743.72, even as the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.13% or 9.90 points to 7,616.21.

Earlier, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had hit a fresh record high of 7,644.48.

Against that backdrop, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was on the back foot, retreating by three basis points to 2.91%, even as that on similarly-dated Italian debt was jumping 20 basis points to 2.74%.

"The Dow Jones didn’t get up to much after the bell, content to squat on the 24800 it clambered its way back to on Monday. The dollar fared better; the dual boost of better than forecast Markit and ISM services PMIs sent it 0.4% higher against the euro, while allowing cable to shrink its losses from 0.5% to 0.2%," said Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx.

On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management revealed that its survey of businesses, excluding manufacturing, rose to 58.6 in May, from the 56.8 reported in April, which was close to a 13-year high.

Numbers over 50% are viewed as positive for the economy, while anything over 55% is seen as exceptional.

Job openings rose to a new high in April, according to the Labor Department, hitting 6.7m after the 6.63m recorded a month earlier.

The March figures were part of an upward revision from the initially reported 6.55m.

As the recession came to a close, there was approximately six unemployed Americans for every job opening; however, that figure has shrunk to the point where there is now one unemployed person for every opening.

In company news, the focus was again on technology issues, with Twitter and Apple both figuring prominently in the headlines ahead.

Twitter shares moved ahead 4.88% following news that the social media giant would be added to the S&P 500 index on 7 June, replacing Monsanto as its $63m deal with Bayer AG headed towards its final close.

In parallel, Apple shares pushed 0.52% higher following its worldwide developer's conference on Monday.

Stock in apparel outfit G-III shot up 12.41% after posting adjusted first-quarter earnings per share of $0.22, significantly ahead of the consensus $0.05 loss projected by analysts.

Mylan shares picked up 7.06% after the drugmaker received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to produce a drug similar to one made by Amgen, itself down 0.88%.

Starbucks slipped 2.42% after its executive chairman, Howard Schultz, announced he would be stepping down from the firm on Monday.