US open: Stocks higher as Q2 earnings season picks up steam

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Tuesday as investors digested another batch of Q2 earnings.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.29 at 40,656.72, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.18% to 5,473.63 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.08% stronger at 17,384.23.

The Dow opened 116.79 points higher on Tuesday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session.

Earnings were set to be Tuesday's primary focus, with US pharma giant Pfizer lifting its full-year profit forecast after second-quarter sales of its Covid vaccine and antiviral treatment came in better than expected, while PayPal reported a strong set of second-quarter results and hiked its full-year earnings forecast as the California-based payments giant delivered an 8% year-on-year revenue increase to $7.89bn, slightly above consensus estimates of $7.81bn.

Merck posted quarterly earnings that came in ahead of expectations and raised its full-year sales outlook on the back of strong demand for its top drugs, while Procter & Gamble also beat earnings estimates but delivered disappointing quarterly sales as a result of weakening demand in China.

Still to come, Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices and Starbucks will all report their latest quarterly numbers after the close of trading.

Also in focus, electric car giant Tesla was forced to update the software of more than 1.8m vehicles in the US after a software issue relating to the bonnet opening latch. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Tuesday that it asked Tesla to recall 1.85m cars from its 2021-2024 Model 3, Model S, Model X, and 2020-2024 Model Y ranges.

On the macro front, the Federal Reserve Bank will kick off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with its latest interest rate decision set to be revealed on Wednesday. Economists widely expect the central bank to keep rates unchanged.

Elsewhere, the average price of a single-family house rose by 5.7%. year-on-year in May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, marking the slowest increase in ten months.

Moving on, the Conference Board's July consumer confidence index came in ahead of expectations at 100.3, beating estimates for a reading of 99.7 but down from last month's print of 100.4.

Finally, US job openings were little changed at 8.18m in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from an upwardly revised reading of 8.23m in May but ahead of expectations for a print of 8.0m.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $12.10 3.11%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $505.47 2.59%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $215.20 2.06%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $218.12 1.96%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.46 1.86%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $337.95 1.85%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $575.72 1.58%
American Express Co. (AXP) $251.25 1.36%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $53.45 1.12%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $219.60 1.03%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $119.39 -6.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $159.85 -5.93%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $30.86 -1.41%
3M Co. (MMM) $124.42 -0.59%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $343.04 -0.43%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $69.50 -0.18%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $427.40 0.13%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $259.05 0.18%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $362.38 0.19%

S&P 500 - Risers

F5 Inc. (FFIV) $198.02 11.40%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $2.16 11.34%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $63.69 9.29%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $103.78 7.62%
Gartner Inc. (IT) $493.83 4.88%
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $147.15 4.80%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $479.69 4.14%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $226.26 4.00%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $76.41 3.99%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $81.12 3.75%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Corning Inc. (GLW) $38.52 -9.75%
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) $231.51 -6.62%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $119.39 -6.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $159.85 -5.93%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $108.16 -5.77%
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $60.68 -4.14%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $149.11 -3.22%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $107.08 -3.07%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $66.00 -3.06%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $62.13 -2.53%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $63.69 9.29%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $479.69 4.14%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $226.26 4.00%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $81.12 3.75%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $150.33 3.48%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $12.10 3.11%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $377.86 2.70%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $216.66 2.68%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $10.77 2.67%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $20.48 2.55%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $108.16 -5.77%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.42 -4.46%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $149.11 -3.22%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $107.08 -3.07%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $66.00 -3.06%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $41.94 -2.53%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $177.17 -2.06%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $897.42 -1.76%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $30.86 -1.41%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,642.50 -1.01%