US open: Stocks higher following labour market data

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

US stocks traded higher early on Thursday morning as markets rebounded from recent falls, with investors watching labour-market data and comments from the head of the Federal Reserve.

As of 1500 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.39% at 38,735.30, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.55% to 5,106.73 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.61% firmer at 16,037.47.

The Dow opened 150.11 points higher on Wednesday, taking a bite out of losses recorded in the previous session.

In focus early on Wednesday, private sector employment in the US rose less than expected in February, according to figures released by ADP. Employment increased by 140,000 from January, versus expectations for a 150,000 jump. Meanwhile, January’s gain was revised from 107,000 to 111,000.

Wednesday also saw the release of the closely watched JOLTS survey, which revealed job openings slipped by 26,000 in January to hit 8.86m, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest reading in three months and short of market estimates for a reading of 8.9m.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will testify before Congress on Wednesday, with prepared remarks showing the central bank head tell lawmakers that he was in no rush to cut interest rates. However, while Powell said he believes that the Fed's policy rate was "likely at its peak for this tightening cycle", he added that if the economy evolves "broadly as expected", it will likely be appropriate to begin dialling back policy restraint at "some point this year".

In corporate news, shares of sportswear and sneaker retailer Foot Locker sank despite beating forecasts with its fourth-quarter results, while Crowdstrike traded higher after beating on both the top and bottom line with its quarterly earnings.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $305.46 2.25%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.03 2.00%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $57.65 1.18%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $478.33 1.09%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $151.08 1.00%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $193.76 0.94%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $98.91 0.61%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.83 0.52%
Visa Inc. (V) $280.71 0.48%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.16 0.43%