US open: Stocks slightly higher as investors look ahead to CPI reading

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

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Wednesday as traders waited for the release of last month's CPI reading tomorrow.

As of 1510 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.17% at 37,587.96, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.15% to 4,763.69 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.10% firmer at 14,873.25.

The Dow opened 62.80 points higher on Wednesday, taking a modest bite out of losses recorded in the previous session.

Investors were mostly looking ahead to the latest consumer price index report, due out on Thursday, with economists expecting to see CPI rising 3.2% year-on-year in December. Market participants will thumb over the data in search of any hints as to exactly when the central bank may see fit to start cutting interest rates, with expectations being reeled back in recent days.

At the open, the yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note was around two basis points lower at 3.996%, while its two-year counterpart was down almost four basis points at 4.329%.

Also drawing an amount investor attention on Wednesday, cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Marathon Digital fell in early trading as bitcoin prices headed south as a result of an incorrect announcement on the US Securities and Exchange Commission's X account, stating that it had approved bitcoin ETFs.

On the macro front, mortgage application volume rose 9.9% in the week ended 5 January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the biggest increase in a year and despite the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increasing to 6.81% from 6.76%. Applications to refinance a home loan surged 19% week-on-week and were 30% higher year-on-year, while applications for a mortgage to purchase a home rose 6% week-on-week but were 16% lower than at the same time a year ago.

Elsewhere, US wholesale inventories decreased 0.20% month-on-month in November, according to the Census Bureau, in line with preliminary estimates but slightly better than the 0.3% decrease seen a month earlier. On an annualised basis, wholesale inventories were down 3% in November, compared to earlier estimates of a 3.1% slump. Wholesale inventories hit an all-time high of 2.80% in February 2022, while their record low of -1.90% was in March 2009.

Still to come, Federal Reserve Bank of New York president John Williams will deliver a speech at 2015 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Wednesday but traders were patiently awaiting the beginning of another earnings season, with results from banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America due on Friday, as well as quarterly report cards from the likes of UnitedHealth and Delta Air Lines.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $118.43 0.89%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $159.31 0.67%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $149.27 0.41%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $538.22 0.34%
Visa Inc. (V) $263.34 0.30%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $375.79 0.29%
3M Co. (MMM) $109.06 0.22%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $261.04 0.18%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $161.66 0.06%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $292.01 0.01%