US open: Stocks advance as Washington reaches vaccine purchase deal with Pfizer and BioNTech

Wall Street stocks were in the green after the bell on Wednesday despite US-Sino tensions coming back into focus as market participants looked ahead to earnings from tech giants Microsoft and Tesla and digested news of a coronavirus vaccine deal between the White House and pharma groups Pfizer and BioNTech.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14% at 26,878.10, while the S&P 500 was 0.22% firmer at 3,264.60 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session 0.40% firmer at 10,722.65.

The Dow opened 37.70 points higher on Wednesday, carrying on the positive momentum seen in the previous session as investors monitored talks between lawmakers in Washington regarding another economic relief package.

As far as Wednesday was concerned, relations between Washington and Beijing were weighing on sentiment at the open as news broke that the White House had ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to close amid brewing tensions between the pair in relation to China's treatment of Hong Kong. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin condemned the action and warned of firm countermeasures.

A warning from Donald Trump that the Covid-19 pandemic would likely "get worse before it gets better" also tempered sentiment on the Street, but was offset by news that the US government would spend $2bn acquiring the first 100m doses of a potential vaccine for Covid-19 currently being jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The $1.95bn deal, which is dependent on the vaccine receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration, also gives the US authority to acquire up to 500m additional doses.

The coronavirus has now infected more than 3.8m Americans and claimed the lives of at least 141,118.

On the macro front, total mortgage application volume rose 4.1% week-on-week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $510,400 or less grew to 3.20% from 3.19%. Refinance application volume was up 5% for the week and up 122% year-on-year.

Elsewhere, house prices fell in May, down 0.3% from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's house price index. However, house prices rose 4.9% year-on-year.

Lastly, sales of existing homes jumped nearly 21% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors, the largest monthly gain since tracking began in 1968. However, sales were still 11.3% lower year-on-year.

In corporate news, United Airlines shares were flying lower after reporting a $1.62bn second-quarter loss, while shares in Snap lost ground after reporting overnight that its second-quarter loss had widened from $255m to $326m.

Biogen stock was in the green after the drugmaker topped quarterly estimates and raised its full-year guidance and Baker Hughes shares were also higher despite reporting a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Still to come, Tesla, Chipotle, Microsoft and CSX will all post second-quarter earnings after the close.