US open: Stocks push higher following upbeat factory data

Stocks have started the week higher on the back of a stronger-than-expected reading on the Empire State factory index and amid somewhat hawkish Fedpseak.

At 1552 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was higher by 0.15% or 35.05 points to 22,907.07, alongside a gain of 0.08% or 2.15 points on the S&P 500 to 2,555.37, while the Nasdaq Composite was ahead by 0.20% or 13.04 points at 6,618.85.

From a sector standpoint, the best performance on Wall Street was being seen among the following industrial groups: Nonferrous metals (1.65%), Heavy construction (1.49%) and Fixed line Telecommunications (1.42%).

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was up by two basis points to 2.29%.

Contributing to those gains, on Saturday the head of the Federal Reserve bank of Boston, Eric Rosengren, told the Journal the US central bank would probably need to raise short-term rates again in December and three or four more times over the course of 2018.

What's more, should inflation reached the Fed's target level even as unemployment was below 4%, that might be a signal of an 'overheating' economy, Rosengren said.

For her part, Fed chief Janet Yellen said rate-setters continued to expect economic strength would justify gradual rate increases in order to stabilise inflation around the central bank's 2% target.

In economic news, the Empire State manufacturing index printed for October printed ahead of forecasts, rising from a reading of 24.4 for the month before to 30.2.

The survey results prompted Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics to tell clients: "On the face of it, the Empire State headline is consistent with the national ISM manufacturing index nudging up even further from September's already-elevated 60.1. Either way, the overall message from this and other surveys is that the industrial sector is very strong."

On the corporate front, earnings were due after the close from Netflix, while banking giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are slated to report on Tuesday.

Shares of California utility PG&E were also in focus as the company said it may face liabilities resulting from the wildfires which were still raging in that US state.