US open: Stocks off to mixed start after latest central bank moves
Wall Street's main market gauges got off to a mixed start on Thursday as they digested interest rate hikes by the Fed and the ECB, even as China's central bank cut its own.
At 1441 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was up by 0.22% to 34,052.83, alongside a 0.05% rise to 4,375.64 for the S&P 500.
The Nasdaq Composite however was drifting lower by 0.14% to 13,609.10.
Both the Federal Reserve and ECB also guided towards more interest rate hikes, two more in the case of the Fed.
Nonetheless, once that hawkish tilt from the Fed had been absorbed by financial markets, risk assets were likely to benefit from an expected decline in prices and greater certainty around the Fed, said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
"While the projections implied a somewhat more hawkish reaction function than most expected, holding rates steady on the day and tying future hikes to the inflation outlook provided the dovish counterbalance," Inned said.
"The combination of expected inflation relief over the summer and lower rates volatility should be good for risk markets once the " hawkish shock" fades."
Investors were also going over the latest batch of mixed economic reports.
Retail sales were reported as up by 0.3% month-on-month in May (consensus: -0.1%), but weekly jobless claims came in at 262,000, unchanged from the week before but above the consensus forecast of 245,000.
The May import price index meanwhile was reported as down by 0.6% on the month, as expected, but the New York Fed's regional factory index printed at 6.6 for June (consensus: -15.6), which was up from -31.8 in May.
Overseas, The People’s Bank of China trimmed its medium-term lending facility rate to 2.65% from 2.75% in an effort to stimulate the economy towards its growth target of 5%.
In corporate news, Patterson-UTI Energy and NexTier Oilfield Solutions said they had agreed to merge, creating a $5.4bn oil services firm.
Boeing shares were in the green despite reports of possible strike action at one of its main suppliers, Spirit Aerosystems.
Dow Jones - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $112.86 5.69%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.58 4.92%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $156.90 1.01%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $146.42 0.94%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $337.34 0.91%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $35.73 0.70%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.87 0.68%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $161.65 0.51%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $183.95 0.35%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $50.96 0.31%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $459.86 -6.40%
Boeing Co. (BA) $216.90 -1.58%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $92.45 -1.49%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $173.59 -1.46%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $31.51 -1.38%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $108.66 -1.21%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $338.49 -1.19%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $157.11 -0.90%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $243.32 -0.86%
3M Co. (MMM) $101.95 -0.77%
S&P 500 - Risers
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $2.25 6.10%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $112.86 5.69%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $122.27 4.79%
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $53.31 4.20%
Stryker Corp. (SYK) $293.57 4.20%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $192.16 4.06%
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH) $142.01 3.79%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $146.13 3.70%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $90.52 3.58%
Target Corp. (TGT) $133.23 3.50%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Fiserv Inc. (FI) $114.23 -100.00%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $455.00 -11.24%
CVS Health Corp (CVS) $66.65 -7.76%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $64.64 -6.94%
Elevance Health Inc. (ELV) $436.35 -6.89%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $459.86 -6.40%
Keycorp (KEY) $9.91 -5.44%
Comerica Inc. (CMA) $41.44 -5.09%
Robert Half International Inc. (RHI) $71.37 -4.74%
Altria Group Inc. (MO) $43.95 -3.96%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $61.91 0.00%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $77.95 0.00%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $181.46 0.00%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $63.71 0.00%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.77 0.00%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $217.31 0.00%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $123.67 0.00%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $45.07 0.00%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $340.96 0.00%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $191.89 0.00%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $61.91 0.00%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $77.95 0.00%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $181.46 0.00%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $63.71 0.00%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.77 0.00%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $217.31 0.00%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $123.67 0.00%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $45.07 0.00%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $340.96 0.00%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $191.89 0.00%