US open: Stocks go green as earnings onslaught continues

Wall Street trading began on a positive note on Tuesday following earnings from the likes of Coca-Cola, Biogen, Lockheed Martin, United Technologies and Harley-Davidson.

At 1540 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.34% at 27,265.58, while the S&P 500 was 0.27% higher at 2,992.98 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.10% firmer at 8,212.29.

The Dow opened 93.68 points higher on Tuesday after closing slightly firmer on Monday on the back of a Wall Street Journal report late last week that suggested a more cautious 25 basis point cut from the Federal Reserve was likely following comments from multiple officials from the central bank.

Oanda analyst Craig Elam said: "It seems traders are finally starting to come around to the idea that the Fed is not going to cut interest rates by 50 basis points at the meeting next week.

"After rising to around 40% last week, the probability has dropped back to around 15% today and even that seems a little high given the New York Fed's clarification and Bullard's comments on Friday."

On the corporate front, chipmakers remained in focus after Applied Materials, Micron Technology and Lam Research led a late rally on Monday following an upgrade from Goldman Sachs.

Apple shares inched forward 0.29% after it was said to be in talks to buy Intel's modem chip division for approximately $1bn within the next week.

In terms of earnings, United Technologies was up 1.33% in early trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results, while Biogen advanced 5.36% at the bell after its own earnings beat.

Coca-Cola fizzed 5% higher after raising its full-year outlook, Lockheed Martin shares retreated 1.36% despite reporting a 22% year-on-year profit jump and Harley-Davidson shares picked up 2.25% at the open despite the company cutting 2019 shipment guidance.

Visa, Chipotle and Snap were still set to report.

In data news, after a delay, the Federal Housing Finance Agency released its May housing price index, revealing the index had ticked up 0.01% - its smallest advance since January 2017 and short of the 0.04% expected by economists.

Elsewhere, US home sales fell more than expected in June as a property shortage pushed prices to record highs.

The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales dropped 1.7% year-on-year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.27m units last month, while May's sales pace was revised higher to 5.36m units from the previously reported 5.34m units.

Lastly, the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for July came in much weaker than expected at -12 versus the estimate for +5, taking the index to its lowest level since January 2013.