US open: Stocks climb as earnings season continues

US stocks climbed on Thursday, as the quarterly earnings season continued with a wave of results from Twitter, Tesla, and ConocoPhillips.

At 1458 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11% to 18,218.95 points, the S&P 500 increased 0.11% to 2,141.71 points and the Nasdaq was up 0.22% to 5,261.96 points.

Oil prices advanced after data from the Energy Information Administration revealed that crude inventories fell 553,000 in the week ended 21 October, as doubts continue whether OPEC would agree to a cut in supply.

Brent crude rose 0.597% to $50.29 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was up 0.405% to $49.38 at 1502 BST.

Shares were up 4.13% in Tesla Motors as the carmaker reported that it made a surprise profit and better than expected revenue, whereas shares in Ford Motor Company were down 1.6% after it said its third quarter profit fell 56% due to recall costs, but its 26 cents per share operating profit exceeded expectations.

Twitter edged a further 1.38% as it beat profit and sales expectations but said it was to cut 9% of its workforce amid uncertainty over a potential takeover.

Oil and gas explorer ConocoPhillips’ shares rose 3.44% as it reported that its 66 cents per share quarterly adjusted loss was narrower than expected of 68 cents.

Meanwhile, data from the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims declined by 3,000 to 258,000 from an upwardly-revised 261,000, economists had expected a drop to 255,000.

This was the 86th consecutive week of initial claims below 300,000 – the longest streak since 1970.

The Commerce Department said orders for US durable goods, products such as cars and computers which are designed to last more than three years, fell 0.1% to £227.3bn in September from the previous month, which was close to the 0.0% consensus.

Paul Sirani, chief market analyst at Xtrade, said: “Demand for durable goods was choppy a few months back and September’s unexpected dip isn’t great news for Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.

“Business spending and consumer confidence in shelling out on those big-ticket items isn’t exactly soaring at the moment and this is one area holding back the world’s largest economy. September’s numbers add to the mixed outlook for the US.

He added that Friday’s GDP price index could be a better indicator of whether the road leading towards a December interest rate hike remains open.

Results from technology giants, Alphabet, Amazon and Linkedin are due after market closes.

Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex, said the potential for drama would come after the close as Alphabet’s third quarter results could have a notable bearing on the Dow Jones’ performance during Friday’s session.

“The Google-parent is forecast to see another quarter of muscular growth, with both earnings and revenue expected to surge by 20% year-on-year. As long as the losses in its ‘Other Bets’ don’t expand too quickly, and Alphabet actually meets these rather high estimates, then the company maybe in line for a fresh all-time high before the week is out, and could end up once again challenging Apple for its market cap supremacy.”