US open: Stocks mostly higher as traders await Fed minutes

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were mostly higher early on Wednesday as market participants looked ahead to minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting and a key speech from chairman Jerome Powell later in the week.

As of 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.02% at 40,825.39, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.30% to 5,614.03 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.48% firmer at 17,903.03.

The Dow opened 9.58 points higher on Wednesday, narrowly extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Wednesday's primary focus will be July's Fed meeting minutes at 1900 BST, with investors hoping to glean further insight into what the central bank may be thinking coming up to its September meeting, where it is broadly expected to lower its benchmark interest rate.

After that, attention will then shift to the Federal Reserve's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with chairman Jerome Powell expected to speak on the central bank's current opinion of the US economy.

Elsewhere on the macro front, US mortgage applications crashed 10.1% in the week ended 16 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, reversing much of the prior week's 16.8% increase. Applications to refinance a mortgage were down 15% despite a five basis point drop in benchmark mortgage rates to a fresh 15-month low, while applications to purchase a home fell 5%.

In the corporate space, shares in retailer Target surged after posting a big quarterly earnings beat and upgrading its full-year outlook, while Macy's beat earnings estimates but revealed that sales had fallen throughout its most recent trading quarter.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.16 0.81%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $75.13 0.79%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $287.71 0.73%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $369.37 0.57%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.75 0.53%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $145.33 0.44%
3M Co. (MMM) $128.22 0.41%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $227.42 0.40%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $52.89 0.32%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $115.50 0.31%