US open: Stocks in the green as traders return from Juneteenth break

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 firmly in the green early on Tuesday as traders returned from the Juneteenth federal holiday in a more positive mood despite ongoing recessionary fears.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.77% at 30,418.44, while the S&P 500 was 2.47% firmer at 3,765.55, and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 3.12% stronger at 11,135.61.

The Dow opened 529.66 points higher on Tuesday, easily reversing losses recorded on Friday as fears of a potential economic slowdown weighed on sentiment.

Energy prices were in focus early on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures trading 1.09% higher at $115.37 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate futures gaining 2.04% to $111.79 a barrel.

Cryptocurrencies also continued to draw an amount of investor attention, with Bitcoin falling to a new low for the year of $17,601.58 over the weekend before clawing its way back to over $21,400 early on Tuesday.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note also moved roughly five basis points higher at the start of trading to sit at 3.293%.

On the macro front, the Chicago Fed's national activity index fell to an eight-month low of 0.01 in May, down from 0.40 in April, as production-related indicators and the personal consumption and housing categories weighed on the index.

Elsewhere, existing home sales declined 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41m in May, according to the National Association of Realtors, the lowest since June 2020 as sales fell for a fourth straight month amid rising mortgage rates and decades-high inflation.

The Federal Reserve will also be in focus throughout the week, with chairman Jerome Powell beginning his Congressional testimony on Wednesday.

In the corporate space, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk confirmed the electric carmaker would be cutting its salaried workforce by 10% over the next three months but stated that hourly staff numbers were still expected to grow, while foods giant Kellogg revealed it will split into three public companies by spinning off its North American cereal and plant-based divisions.

Still to come, La-Z Boy will report earnings after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $153.93 3.74%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $136.50 3.69%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $116.93 3.28%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $168.08 2.91%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $287.51 2.76%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $37.97 2.68%
Visa Inc. (V) $194.92 2.58%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $86.44 2.53%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $463.16 2.46%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $197.10 2.32%