US open: Stocks trade higher amid data avalanche

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 in the green early on Wednesday as investors digested a slew of data points ahead of tomorrow's holiday.

As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.25% at 34,183.32, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.41% to 4,019.84 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.80% stronger at 11,263.47.

The Dow opened 85.22 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as market participants shrugged off fears of further lockdowns in China.

With Wall Street set to shut up shop for tomorrow's Thanksgiving break, traders sifted through two days' worth of data points early on Wednesday.

First up, mortgage applications rose 2.2% in the week ended 18 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, marking the first time since August that applications increased for two consecutive weeks. The purchase index went up 2.8%, while applications to refinance a home loan increased by 1.8%.

On another note, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated clip last week, with first-time claims easily beating expectations. According to the Labor Department, new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 to 240,000 in the week ended 19 November, the highest level seen since August and easily exceeding expectations for a reading of 225,000.

Moving on, orders for goods made to last more than three years expanded more quickly than expected last month. According to the Department of Commerce, durable goods orders rose at a month-on-month pace of 1.0% in October to reach $277.4bn.

Still on data, economic activity in the US slowed more quickly than expected last month, according to the results of two surveys. S&P Global's composite purchasing managers' index for manufacturing and services sector activity fell from a reading of 48.2 in October to 46.3 in November - a three-month low. The services PMI fell from 47.8 to 46.1 and the manufacturing PMI dropped from 50.4 to 47.6.

Elsewhere, a final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index printed at 56.8 in November, up from a preliminary reading of 54.7 and beating expectations for a print of 55. The current conditions subindex was revised higher to 58.8 from 57.8, while the gauge for expectations was revised higher to 55.6 from 52.7.

Finally, new home sales rose 7.5% to a seasonally adjusted clip of 632,000 in October, according to the Census Bureau, well above market forecasts for a reading of 570,000, while building permits dropped 3.3% month-on-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.51m in October, below a preliminary estimate of 1.52m.

However, most importantly, minutes from the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee's most recent policy meeting will be published at 1900 GMT, with market participants likely to thumb over the report in order to glean any further insight into the central bank's mindset when it comes to future monetary policy.

In the corporate space, Deere & Co posted fourth-quarter earnings of $2.25 per share and revenue of $15.54bn on Wednesday, topping Wall Street expectations. For the year as a whole, the company reported profits of $7.13bn and revenues of $47.92bn.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $97.43 1.27%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.86 0.99%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $246.95 0.78%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $386.67 0.73%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $152.71 0.67%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $30.00 0.60%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $151.06 0.59%
Visa Inc. (V) $211.43 0.53%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $525.81 0.52%
Boeing Co. (BA) $173.40 0.52%