US open: Wall Street bounces back ahead of Comey testimony
Wall Street was staging a mild bounce back on Wednesday ahead of a raft of key risk events the next day, including former FBI boss James Comey's testimony before a Senate panel, the UK general election and a meeting of the European Central Bank's Governing Council.
At 1515 BST the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.20% or 42.41 points to 21,175.48, alongside gains of 0.29% for the Nasdaq Composite to 6,293.07 and rise of 0.17% in the S&P 500 to 2,433.51.
Meanwhile, crude oil futures were slipping ahead of US supply data from the Energy Information Administration due out at 1530 BST.
West Texas Intermediate was down by 1.03% to $47.70 a barrel ahead of those figures.
Comey was due to testify on Thursday about Russia's involvement in the US presidential election.
FXTM chief market strategist Hussein Sayed said: "Comey’s testimony is crucial tomorrow. While it's known that many questions will remain unanswered, the biggest question remains to be whether the former FBI director will accuse the President of abusing his power to derail the FBI’s investigation and whether there’s any indication of potential links between Russia and the Trump election campaign.
"Should the testimony reveal any unexpected surprises, the same will be reflected in the financial markets."
Investigations into the Trump election campaign's alleged dealing with Russian officials had seen the White House's drive for tax reforms stall.
That had led JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon the day before to caution that much still hinged on such reforms.
Indeed, expected delays in the implementation of stimulus measures by the Trump administration led the OECD to cut its forecasts for US GDP growth in 2017 and 2018 from 2.4% and 2.8%, respectively, to 2.1% and 2.4%.
On the corporate front, US-listed shares of Banco Santander could be active after it bought struggling Banco Popular Espanol for €1.
Jack Daniels parent Brown-Forman Corp. posted fiscal fourth quarter profits per share of 37 cents, which was down from $1.30 in the year-ago period (consensus: 40 cents).
Dow Jones - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.06 1.11%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.51 1.05%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $155.74 0.84%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $216.29 0.82%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $153.62 0.82%
American Express Co. (AXP) $79.31 0.58%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $83.43 0.57%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $106.00 0.47%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $79.23 0.38%
Visa Inc. (V) $96.10 0.32%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.51 -1.02%
General Electric Co. (GE) $27.77 -0.57%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $123.50 -0.43%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $64.40 -0.41%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $72.33 -0.26%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $88.64 -0.19%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $180.50 -0.18%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $104.48 -0.07%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $120.08 -0.03%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $81.06 0.00%
S&P 500 - Risers
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $56.22 4.21%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $17.68 3.94%
GGP Inc (GGP) $23.25 2.81%
Westrock Company (WRK) $55.59 2.72%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $20.84 2.71%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $32.37 2.53%
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $18.35 2.51%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $20.72 2.47%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $127.95 2.23%
Synchrony Financial (SYF) $28.84 1.96%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $33.33 -4.77%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $79.87 -1.69%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $59.14 -1.60%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $16.52 -1.55%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $51.53 -1.51%
Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $29.61 -1.50%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $23.88 -1.49%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $22.50 -1.34%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $74.34 -1.33%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $49.49 -1.22%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $32.37 2.53%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $307.77 1.61%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $42.77 1.59%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $42.56 1.59%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $358.13 1.50%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $91.20 1.40%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $45.02 1.35%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $149.26 1.30%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $86.20 1.19%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $187.90 1.16%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $29.20 -3.09%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $170.69 -1.96%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $29.65 -1.82%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $28.69 -1.68%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $22.50 -1.34%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $100.51 -0.95%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $76.18 -0.92%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $126.57 -0.90%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $54.53 -0.89%
Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $23.56 -0.88%