US open: Stocks higher after slew of earnings
US equity markets opened higher on Tuesday, following a string of earnings from corporate heavyweights such as Alibaba, Johnson & Johnson and Verizon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14% to 19,827.14, the S&P 500 rose 0.16% to 2,268.92, and the Nasdaq was 0.18% stronger to 5,563.11 at 1516 GMT.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher ahead of weekly crude inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute later in the day.
Brent crude was up 0.66% to $55.60 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate rose 0.8% to $53.18.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "US markets opened more or less near to where they closed last night, with some fairly higher profile earnings announcements taking centre stage, as the new US president continues to keep markets on the back foot."
In currency markets, the dollar recovered from heavy losses in the wake of President Donald Trump’s protectionist inauguration speech.
The greenback was flat against the euro to 0.9286, up 0.38% versus the pound to 0.8007, and rose 0.2% against the yen to 112.94.
Trump is to meet with executives from the automobile industry on Tuesday to discuss manufacturing and jobs. The president has criticised carmakers such as Ford and GM Motors for building cars in Mexico and threatened to impose a 35% tariff on auto imports.
Shares in Ford were up 1.34%, GM Motors rose 1.23% and Fiat Chrysler climbed 5.45%.
Alibaba was up 3.29% after the Chinese online retail giant reported a 54% rise in revenue, largely due to Singles Day.
Johnson & Johnson was down 1.86% after its fourth quarter earnings beat expectations but revenue missed forecasts.
Verizon Communications fell 3.74% after its fourth quarter earnings came below expectations
DR Horton’s climbed 4.18% after the housebuilder’s first quarter profit beat expectations due to higher home sales.
DuPont rose 1.2% and led the gainers on the Dow after its fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations
3M, the maker of Scotch tape, fell 1.84% despite saying that fourth quarter revenue rose 11.3%
Chip maker Texas Instruments and aluminium giant Alcoa are scheduled to report earnings after the close.
In other corporate news, Buffalo Wild Wings was up 1.15% after the restaurant chain added $400m to its share buyback programme.
On the data front, Markit’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index in January rose more than expected to 55.1 from 54.3 in December. This was the strongest reading since March 2015 and was ahead of the 54.5 forecast.
Existing home sales fell 2.8% in December to 5.49m units, as supply hit a 17-year low, and was more than the 1.1% fall expected. November’s reading was revised up to 5.65m units from a previously reported 5.61m.