US open: Stocks mixed as investors digest data points

Wall Street stocks were mixed at the open on Wednesday as market participants thumbed over a number of major data points in early trading.

As of 1535 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.06% at 35,339.11, while the S&P 500 came out the gate 0.16% firmer at 4,529.80 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.57% stronger at 15,346.93.

The Dow opened 21.62 points lower on Wednesday, extending modest losses recorded in the previous session.

A number of data points were in focus on early in the session, with mortgage applications falling in the seven days ended 27 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, dropping 2.4% week-on-week as the average contract interest rate for traditional 30-year mortgages was unchanged at 3.03%.

Elsewhere, private sector employment in the US grew much less than expected in August as the spread of the Delta variant took its toll, according to the latest data from the ADP. Employment rose by 374,000 from July, versus expectations for a 613,000 increase. Meanwhile, the July total of jobs added was revised from 330,000 to 326,000.

Still on data, US factory sector activity continued growing at a brisk clip last month, according to IHS Markit's manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index, which edged down from a reading of 61.2 in July to 61.1 for August. Economists had expected the headline index to have remained unchanged from the month before.

Last month's ISM manufacturing PMI came in at 59.9%, an increase of 0.4% month-on-month, indicating expansion in the overall economy for the 15th month in a row. The new orders index came to 66.7%, up 1.8 points, while the production index registered 60%, a 1.6 percentage point increase. All of the six biggest manufacturing industries — computer and electronic products, fabricated metal products, chemical products, food, beverage and tobacco products, transportation equipment, and petroleum and coal products — registered "moderate to strong growth" in August.

Lastly, construction spending across the US rose 0.3% to $1.56bn in July, according to the Census Bureau, ahead of estimates for a print of 0.2%, driven by a 0.3% uptick in private construction and a 0.7% increase in public building works. For the calendar year, construction was up 6.2% at $883.2bn.

In the corporate space, Campbell Soup issued full-year profit guidance below expectations but also reported a second-quarter revenue beat, while gunmaker Smith & Wesson will report earnings after the close on Wednesday.

Reopening plays like Las Vegas Sands and Exxon Mobil traded higher early on, while bank shares also were also recording early gains, driven by the likes of Citigroup and Bank of America.