US open: Stocks higher as investors digest Fed comments, advance GDP reading
Wall Street futures were in the green as trading began on Thursday following the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and a number of data points early in the session.
As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.65% at 34,730.45, while the S&P 500 was 1.64% firmer at 4,421.30 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.43% stronger at 13,735.16.
The Dow opened 562.36 points higher on Thursday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session as investors digested news that the Federal Reserve was "of a mind" to raise interest rates as soon as March.
The central bank was still in focus at the start of trading on Thursday after holding its benchmark rate near zero overnight while also strongly indicating that the first hike since late 2018 would come in March.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell shook markets when he said the Federal Reserve had "quite a bit of room" to raise rates before negatively impacting employment. Traders in Fed funds futures market are now pricing in five quarter-percentage-point increases in 2022.
As a result of the news, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note had eased back slightly to 1.796% at the open.
On the macro front, new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 0.9% to $267.6bn in December, according to the Census Bureau, following a revised 3.2% increase in November.
Elsewhere, an advance reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth revealed GDP accelerated at a 6.9% annualised pace in the final three months, according to the Commerce Department, well ahead of the 5.5% estimate.
Still on data, initial jobless claims fell for the first time in four weeks in the seven days ended 22 January, slipping 260,000 from the prior week's upwardly revised print of 290,000, according to the Labor Department. The decline, which comes after jobless claims hit a three-month high a week earlier, seemingly implies that some of the Covid-19 Omicron variant-related disruptions that had been weighing on the labour market's recovery may be fading.
Finally, pending home sales fell for a second straight month in December, dropping a far sharper than expected 3.8%, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists had anticipated seeing pending home sales fall 0.9% over the festive period.
In the corporate space, fast-food giant McDonald's posted quarterly earnings and revenues that fell short of analysts' expectations on Thursday as increased costs weighed on profits, while Comcast posted earnings that beat expectations but fell short of meeting new internet subscriber numbers.
Mastercard also exceeded earnings expectations with its fourth-quarter figures as consumer spending continued to rebound throughout the all-important holiday season.
Still to come, Apple, Western Digital and Visa will report earnings after the close.
Dow Jones - Risers
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $60.56 5.84%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $222.46 5.43%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $306.14 3.18%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $137.34 2.80%
Boeing Co. (BA) $199.18 2.53%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $135.91 2.43%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $163.51 2.40%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $80.86 2.17%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $56.39 1.92%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $138.32 1.89%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.26 -6.65%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $248.21 -0.66%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $134.53 0.20%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $148.98 0.72%
American Express Co. (AXP) $176.71 0.79%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $345.72 0.89%
Visa Inc. (V) $207.79 0.93%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $463.29 1.06%
S&P 500 - Risers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $114.75 19.15%
Packaging Corp. Amer (PKG) $148.04 10.97%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $387.73 7.79%
Ball Corp (BLL) $93.21 7.67%
Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $55.60 6.30%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $186.30 6.23%
Raymond James Fin Corp. (RJF) $104.14 5.77%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $222.46 5.43%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $96.89 5.39%
Corning Inc. (GLW) $41.29 5.24%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.26 -6.65%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $571.41 -4.23%
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) $388.63 -3.62%
Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC) $149.02 -3.23%
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW) $151.65 -3.17%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $105.32 -3.05%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $34.55 -2.54%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $372.27 -2.19%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $70.51 -1.73%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $230.14 -1.66%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $114.75 19.15%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $387.73 7.79%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $186.30 6.23%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $235.18 4.51%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $56.98 4.40%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,012.29 3.76%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $7.92 3.53%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $306.14 3.18%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $522.54 2.97%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $2,859.06 2.94%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.26 -6.65%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $893.77 -4.66%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $571.41 -4.23%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $69.04 -2.92%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $372.27 -2.19%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $47.86 -1.24%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $134.55 -0.76%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $73.98 -0.55%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $25.69 -0.35%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $85.88 -0.29%