US open: Stocks little changed ahead of FOMC minutes

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 little changed early on Wednesday as market participants awaited the publication of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.08% at 31,953.21, while the S&P 500 was 0.06% firmer at 3,943.84, and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.02% stronger at 11,266.89.

The Dow opened 24.59 points higher on Wednesday, narrowly extending gains recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index staged a late rally amid a decline in the yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note.

Wednesday's primary focus will be minutes from the FOMC's meeting on 4 May, scheduled for release at 1900 BST, with investors looking to gain greater insight into the central bank's thought process as it hiked rates by half a percentage point.

Chairman Jerome Powell said that inflation was "much too high" and that the Fed understood "the hardship" it has caused. "We're moving expeditiously to bring it back down," he said.

Elsewhere on the macro front, US mortgage applications declined 1.2% in the week ended 20 May, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, as heightened prices and elevated rates continued to weigh on affordability. The drop follows an 11% drop in the previous week.

Finally, US durable goods orders rose 0.4% month-on-month to $265.3bn in April, according to the Census Bureau, following a downwardly revised 0.6% increase in March and short of forecasts for a reading of 0.6%.

In the corporate space, Nordstrom shares traded higher after the retailer beat sales expectations and upped its full-year guidance amid a surge in demand, while homebuilder Toll Brothers posted quarterly results overnight that came in ahead of analysts' expectations.

As far as Wednesday's earnings go, Dick's Sporting Goods shares were in the red after the retailer lowered full-year guidance following a 7.5% first-quarter sales decline.

Still to come, Box, Universal, Nvidia, Guess, and Williams-Sonoma will all report after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $175.90 1.89%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $159.66 1.74%
American Express Co. (AXP) $158.03 1.54%
Boeing Co. (BA) $120.27 0.73%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $253.70 0.72%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $289.83 0.66%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $206.85 0.58%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.27 0.45%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $101.88 0.28%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $41.78 0.26%