US open: Stocks trade slightly lower amid data onslaught

Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Wednesday as market participants digested a number of key data points.

As of 1440 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.03% at 33,583.62, while the S&P 500 shed 0.40% to 3,975.72 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.90% weaker at 11,256.14.

The Dow opened 9.30 points lower on Wednesday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session as market participants digested another softer-than-expected inflation report.

Wednesday's primary focus will be October's retail sales data, which revealed sales grew more quickly than anticipated last month. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes expanded at a month-on-month clip of 1.3% to reach $694.5bn. Economists had pencilled-in a rise of 0.9%.

Also on the macro front, mortgage applications rose 2.70% in the week ended 11 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the first increase in eight weeks. The purchase index was up 4.4%, while applications to refinance a home loan fell by 1.6%.

On another note, the cost of imported goods in the States fell a bit less than expected last month, according to the Department of Labor, with the US import price index slipping at a month-on-month pace of 0.2% in October in seasonally adjusted terms. Consensus estimates were for a 0.5% drop.

Elsewhere, US industrial production undershot forecasts by a wide margin amid declines in mining and utilities output. According to the Department of Commerce, total production ticked lower by one-tenth of a percentage point month-on-month in October (consensus: 0.2%).

Still to come, September business inventories data and the National Association of Home Builders' November housing market index will both follow at 1500 GMT.

Turning to the Fed, New York Fed president John Williams will deliver a speech at 1450 GMT and governor Christopher Waller will speak at 1935 GMT.

In the corporate space, retailer Target posted a more than 50% drop in third-quarter profits on Wednesday ahead of the all-important holiday trading period, leading the company to lower expectations for the final twelve weeks of the year, while Lowe's beat expectations with its latest set of quarterly revenues.

Cisco and Nvidia will report earnings after the close.

Headlines from across the pond were also in focus at the open as UK inflation once again surged in October, coming in well above expectations. According to the Office for National Statistics, consumer price inflation rose 11.1% in October year-on-year, up from 10.1% in September and the highest rate since 1981. Most analysts had been expecting CPI to print at around 10.7%.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com