US open: Stocks fall as investors digest data, eye Fed speeches

US stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday as investors digested durable goods data and eyed speeches from Federal Reserve officials.

At 1545 BST the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.03% to 0.05% to 18,217.58 points, the Nasdaq dipped 0.15% to 5,297.24 points, while the S&P 500 was down 0.17% to 2,156.11 points.

Meanwhile, oil prices advanced as investors kept an eye on the unofficial OPEC meeting in Algeria, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.2% to $45.24 a barrel and Brent crude up 1.3% to $46.59.

Prices were underpinned by data from the Energy Information Administration which showed US crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week to 23 September to 502.7 million barrels.

Earlier, the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday revealed a surprise fall of 752,000 barrels to 506.4m last week.

US durable goods orders were unchanged in August, the Commerce Department revealed, following a 3.6% increase in July. Economists had been expecting a 1.5% decline last month.

“Although durable goods orders were unchanged in August, the details of the report were weak,” according to Capital Economics.

“It now appears that equipment investment contracted in the third quarter, which means the risks to our estimate that third-quarter GDP growth was 2.5% are now skewed to the downside.”

Elsewhere, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen spoke before the House Financial Services Committee about financial regulation on Wednesday. In a prepared speech she focused on banks, saying lenders were well capitalised but remain challenged by weak interest income. Yellen said the US central bank is considering stress tests requiring more capital from the country’s biggest lenders.

St Louis Fed President Jim Bullard and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans were due to make opening remarks at the St Louis Fed’s conference on communication banking. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester was also scheduled to speak on the economic outlook and policy.

In corporate news, Nike was weaker after it reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit late on Tuesday but weaker-than-forecast future orders.

Mattress company Tempur Sealy International tumbled after downgrading its guidance for 2016.

Deutsche Bank AG’s US-listed shares recovered after news the troubled German lender is selling an insurance business amid worries about the bank’s legal troubles in the US.

Alphabet Inc. declined after Wedbush downgraded Google’s parent company to ‘underperform’, citing worries about a new approach for the company’s search ads.

Blackberry gained after the group raised its full year outlook and announced a new chief financial officer.