US open: Dow extends rally, S&P 500 falls from record

dl wall street st new york city nyc nyse stock exchange ny dow jones nasdaq sp finance us usa united states of america — Wall StreetSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Wednesday as the S&P 500 fell from its record close.

As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.44% at 39,176.98, while the S&P 500 lost 0.06% to 5,171.94 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.42% weaker at 16,197.26.

The Dow opened 171.49 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as investors largely shrugged off an unexpected pick-up in inflation, holding on to hopes that the data won't derail the Federal Reserve's plans to soon start cutting interest rates.

According to the Department of Labor, headline consumer prices increased at a 0.4% month-on-month pace in February, which served to push the year-on-year rate of increase from 3.1% in January to 3.2%, despite economists' expectations for no change. Core CPI also rose, up by 0.4% month-on-month, while the annual rate inched lower to 3.8% from 3.9%, albeit still higher than the 3.7% expected by the market.

February's producer price index was slated for release on Thursday, with the two key pieces of inflation data marking some of the last major macro data points scheduled for release ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting on 19 March.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications increased by 7.1% in the week ended 8 March, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, cooling off slightly from the prior week's 9.7% rise. Applications to buy a home advanced 4.7%, while those to refinance a home loan jumped 12.2%. Elsewhere, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased 18 basis points to 6.84% - the lowest level seen in five weeks.

In the corporate space, Dollar Tree shares were down more than 14% at the open after posting disappointing quarterly earnings, while Tesla shares traded almost 3% lower on the back of a downgrade from analysts at Wells Fargo.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

3M Co. (MMM) $102.21 3.54%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $394.13 1.53%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.13 1.47%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $379.86 1.42%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $341.02 1.12%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $58.28 1.04%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $494.09 0.97%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $191.44 0.84%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $100.87 0.69%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.92 0.69%