US open: Stocks higher after Dow hits lowest level in over two years

dl exchange place wall st street pl new york city nyc ny nyse stock exchange dow jones sp nasdaq finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america — Exchange PlaceSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Tuesday after the blue-chip Dow Jones closed at its lowest level in more than two years in the previous session.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.48% at 29,399.99, while the S&P 500 was 0.69% firmer at 3,680.37 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.08% stronger at 10,920.00.

The Dow opened 139.18 points higher on Tuesday, reclaiming some losses recorded in the previous session as a surging dollar and heightened bond yields took centre stage.

The greenback was in focus yet again on Tuesday as the British pound bounced back more than 1% in early trading to sit at $1.083 just 24 hours after hitting a record low against the USD as investors looked for further clarity regarding UK monetary policy amid calls for aggressive rate hikes in order to stabilise the pound.

Oil prices were slightly higher on Tuesday morning after tumbling to their lowest level since January in the previous session, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures up 1.42% at $77.80 per barrel.

Comments from Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester were also drawing an amount of investor attention at the open, with the central banker saying inflation was "unacceptably high" and that uncertainties had made monetary policy decisions "not trivial".

"When there is uncertainty, it can be better for policymakers to act more aggressively," she said. "Aggressive and pre-emptive action can prevent the worst-case outcomes from actually coming about." Mester added that she would be "very cautious" when assessing inflation data.

On the macro front, new orders for manufactured durable goods slipped 0.2% month-on-month in August, according to the Census Bureau, following a revised 0.1% drop in July and better than estimates for a larger fall of 0.4%.

Elsewhere, US house price growth eased in July, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic/Case-Shiller national home price index. The national home price index, which covers all nine US census divisions, rose 15.8% on the year, down from 18.1% a month earlier. This marked the slowest pace of growth since April 2021.

Still on data, new home sales in the soared 28.8% fmonth-on-month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000, according to the Census Bureau, the biggest increase since June 2020, the highest level in five months, and above market expectations for a reading of 500,000.

Finally, the Conference Board's September consumer confidence index increased to 103.2 in August, according to the Conference Board, up from 95.3 in July and following three straight monthly declines.

In the corporate space, Cracker Barrel shares rose in early trading after the restaurant and retailer posted a quarterly profit beat and issued some upbeat revenue guidance.

Still to come, Blackberry will update on recent trading after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $149.70 2.31%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $271.67 1.91%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $153.63 1.89%
Boeing Co. (BA) $129.67 1.83%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.60 1.72%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $41.14 1.38%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $33.13 1.35%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $27.31 1.24%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $123.46 1.18%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $43.90 1.18%