US open: Dow opens 200 points higher, traders eye macro data

dl wall street wall st new york city new york stock exchange nyse dow jones nasdaq street sign nyc united states usa america pb — Sharecast / Alessandro D Andrea via Pixabay

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Thursday as major indices look set to reclaim yesterday's losses.

As of 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.56% at 37,964.34, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.20% to 5,032.47 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.05% firmer at 15,691.60.

The Dow opened 211.03 points higher on Thursday, reversing Wednesday's losses.

In the corporate space, shares in credit checking business Equifax traded lower in early trading on the back of some disappointing second-quarter guidance, while Alaska Air shares flew higher following some better-than-expected first-quarter numbers, and DR Horton traded higher after topping expectations with its latest figures.

Netflix will report after the close of trading.

On the macro front, manufacturing sector conditions in the mid-Atlantic region improved unexpectedly in April, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory sector index, which rose from 3.2 in March to 15.5 in April (consensus: 1.5). A key sub-index tracking new orders improved from 5.4 to 12.2, while that for shipments jumped from 11.4 to 19.1.

Elsewhere, the US jobs market appeared to remain tight during the latest reference week. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, initial unemployment claims over the week ending on 12 April were unchanged from the previous seven-day stretch at 212,000. Economists had pencilled-in a small rise to 215,000.

Finally, existing home sales fell 4.3% in March to a seasonally-adjusted annualised rate of 4.19m, according to the National Association of Realtors, partially reversing from a 9.5% rise in February. "Home sales are stuck because interest rates have not made any major moves. More inventory is always welcomed in the current environment", said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $498.88 4.15%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $210.87 2.08%
3M Co. (MMM) $91.92 1.06%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $181.94 1.03%
American Express Co. (AXP) $219.50 0.84%
Boeing Co. (BA) $171.62 0.83%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $157.60 0.76%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $406.35 0.60%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $265.60 0.58%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.06 0.56%