US open: Stocks trade higher as Q2 earnings season continues

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.77% at 34,778.17, while the S&P 500 was 0.61% firmer at 4,349.42 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.38% stronger at 14,554.52.

The Dow opened 266.18 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains registered by the blue-chip index a day earlier.

Energy stocks were in focus early on Wednesday as oil prices looked set to continue to bounce back from having dropped below $70 a barrel earlier in the week, as was the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moved up around five basis points to 1.26% after having dropped to a new five-month low on Monday.

In the corporate space, Coca-Cola raised its full-year revenue guidance amid a rebound in demand thanks to the reopening US economy, while drugmaker Johnson & Johnson beat earnings estimates and said it now expects to see $2.5bn in global sales from its Covid-19 vaccine in 2021.

Elsewhere, Verizon reported a record second-quarter performance, with earnings per share of $1.40 and operating revenues of $33.8bn, and upwardly revised its full-year guidance, while Seagate also posted a quarterly earnings beat and revenues that topped forecasts.

Netflix shares were in the red after the streaming giant issued a disappointing forecast for full-year subscriber growth, while Chipotle stock was in the green after revealing quarterly revenues had surpassed pre-Covid levels.

On the macro front, mortgage applications declined 4.0% week-on-week in the seven days ended 16 July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, reflecting a 2.8% drop in applications to refinance existing loans and a 6.4% decrease in purchase applications to their lowest level since May 2020.

The decline also came as the average contract interest rate for traditional 30-year mortgages increased to 3.11% from 3.09%.