US open: Stocks mixed as Q2 earnings remain in focus

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 trading got off to a mixed start on Wednesday as market participants remained firmly focussed on corporate earnings.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.24% at 31,750.13, while the S&P 500 was 0.11% firmer at 3,940.85 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.75% higher at 11,801.49.

The Dow opened 76.92 points lower on Wednesday after wrapping up the previous session sharply higher.

Earnings were again in focus at the start of trading on Wednesday, with streaming giant Netflix reporting subscriber numbers had continued to fall in the second quarter, losing around 1.0m subscribers during the three months ended 30 June, below the 2.0m it had forecast,

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Q2 revenues and earnings per share that missed analysts' expectations, Biogen posted adjusted profits of $5.25 per share for the second quarter, well above consensus estimates of $4.06, and healthcare group Abbott Laboratories raised full-year earnings guidance after posting an earnings beat.

Still to come, Equifax, United Airlines and Tesla will report after the close.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell 6.3% in the week ended 15 July, a third consecutive drop and the lowest level since 2000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The drop in the overall index came as a result of a 7.3% decline in the applications index and a 4.3% decrease in the refinancing index.

Elsewhere, the National Association of Realtors revealed US existing home sales dropped 5.4% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.12m, well below forecasts for a reading of 5.38m and the lowest reading seen since June 2020.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $180.62 3.92%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.36 3.76%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $110.65 1.34%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $261.36 0.70%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $151.95 0.63%
3M Co. (MMM) $132.71 0.44%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $319.40 0.42%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $40.35 0.34%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $248.01 0.28%
Boeing Co. (BA) $156.51 0.24%