US open: Stocks trade higher at the opening bell

Wall Street trading began on a positive note on Monday, with the S&P 500 trying to avoid delivering its worst monthly performance since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

As of 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.34% at 34,843.36, while the S&P 500 was 0.88% stronger at 4,470.91 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 2.02% firmer at 14,049.02.

The Dow opened 117.89 points higher on Monday, building upon solid gains for the major indices recorded on Friday as a rollercoaster week drew to a close on a positive note.

While Monday will be fairly quiet in terms of market-moving headlines, the pre-market moves come ahead of a stacked week for both economic data and earnings reports from a number of the US' largest names in tech.

December's nonfarm payrolls report, which the Biden administration previously cautioned could be heavily impacted by surging Covid-19 cases on account of the Omicron variant, will be published on Friday, while Alphabet, Starbucks, Meta Platforms, Amazon and more will all report earnings before the week is out.

In focus early on Monday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked slightly higher to 1.801% at the open.

On the macro front, the Chicago purchasing manager's index increased to 63.1 in December from 61.8 a month earlier to beat market expectations of 62, according to the Institute for Supply Management. Production increased to its highest reading since July 2021, while new orders rebounded and inventories hit a four-year high as firms created buffers for longer lead times, while prices paid fell to a seven-month low.

Still to come, the Dallas Fed's January manufacturing index will be released at 1530 GMT.

In the corporate space, US software maker Citrix has agreed to be bought by affiliates of Elliott Investment Management and Vista Equity Partners for $16.5bn in cash.

Under the terms of the deal, Citrix shareholders will receive $104.00 per share. This is a 30% premium to the price on 7 December, which was the last trading day before speculation about a deal and a 24% premium to the price on 20 December, which was the last trading day prior to media reports about a potential bid from Vista and Evergreen.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $192.14 0.82%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $223.73 0.72%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $171.05 0.42%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $139.10 0.34%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $467.33 0.27%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $130.96 0.26%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $146.12 0.14%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $80.95 0.06%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $137.59 0.05%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $308.32 0.02%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $196.66 -2.24%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $49.60 -1.70%
Visa Inc. (V) $224.47 -1.55%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $59.27 -1.28%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.28 -1.17%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $144.92 -1.15%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $165.03 -1.07%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.21 -1.04%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $226.80 -1.02%
American Express Co. (AXP) $175.77 -0.73%

S&P 500 - Risers

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $404.93 5.35%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $482.34 3.96%
Resmed Inc. (RMD) $223.00 3.18%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $74.43 3.05%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $182.90 2.78%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $234.64 2.73%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $108.08 2.70%
Msci Inc. (MSCI) $519.43 2.22%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $147.48 2.18%
Twitter Inc (TWTR) $35.96 1.96%

S&P 500 - Fallers

L3Harris Technologies Inc. (LHX) $210.30 -3.83%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $101.60 -3.74%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $18.32 -3.43%
Discovery Inc. Class A (DISCA) $26.34 -2.98%
People's United Financial Inc. (PBCT) $19.08 -2.98%
Discovery Inc. Class C (DISCK) $25.80 -2.86%
Macerich Co (MAC) $16.45 -2.37%
AT&T Inc. (T) $24.62 -2.34%
M&T Bank Corp. (MTB) $168.14 -2.28%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $196.66 -2.24%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $404.93 5.35%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $72.89 5.12%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $482.34 3.96%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $878.79 3.83%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $26.24 3.57%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $99.77 3.50%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $74.43 3.05%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $182.90 2.78%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $234.64 2.73%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,077.07 2.71%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $101.60 -3.74%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $49.60 -1.70%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.51 -1.50%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $30.53 -1.48%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $130.02 -1.44%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $17.53 -1.35%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $107.22 -1.32%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $88.94 -1.14%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $49.18 -1.09%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $92.65 -1.08%