US open: Stocks slightly higher following heavy sell-off in previous session

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 trading slightly higher early on Wednesday as major indices did their best to halt losses recorded during a heavy sell-off in the previous session.

As of 1540 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.07% at 33,264.25, while the S&P 500 was 0.28% firmer at 4,186.97 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.22% stronger at 12,517.94.

The Dow opened 24.07 points higher on Wednesday following heavy losses in the previous session as a result of a tech-led sell-off that has lasted much of the month.

Earnings from tech behemoth Microsoft were in focus after it posted third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and also sounded an optimistic tone when discussing its outlook for the current quarter, while quarterly results from Google parent company Alphabet were also drawing a significant amount of investor attention after the company reported a 23% uptick in Q1 earnings but said net profits had actually dropped to $16.4bn as YouTube advertising slowed.

Also in focus, Robinhood shares were in the red at the open after the retail brokerage warned that it would be cutting back on staff due to "duplicate roles and job functions".

Turning to Wednesday's earnings, Spotify said nearly all of its key metrics surpassed guidance in Q1, with total revenues increasing 24% to €2.66bn, while Kraft-Heinz beat on earnings and raised its full-year outlook.

Boeing shares dropped 11% following a big-time earnings miss, while Meta Platforms, Qualcomm, PayPal and Hertz will all publish their latest set of quarterly earnings after the close.

On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 8.3% in the week ended 22 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, marking a seventh-straight week of declines amid increased mortgage rates.

Elsewhere, an advance reading of March's goods trade balance revealed the US goods trade deficit increased to an all-time high of $125.3bn, according to the Census Bureau, up from a revised $106.3bn in February as imports surged 11.5% to a record $294.6bn, driven by purchases of industrial supplies, while, exports went up 7.2% to a record $169.3bn, pushed up by sales of industrial supplies and capital goods.

Still on data, US retail inventories, excluding autos, increased to 2.30% in March, accelerating from a 1.50% advance in February, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau.

Finally, pending home sales fell for a tenth straight month in March, down 8.2% as pending home sales fell across all regions in the US, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Dow Jones - Risers

Visa Inc. (V) $216.93 7.87%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $282.41 4.51%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $172.58 1.47%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $122.04 1.26%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $65.60 0.85%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $211.95 0.78%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $314.78 0.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $144.70 0.33%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $300.69 0.24%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $67.47 0.15%