US open: Stocks trade higher following April retail sales data

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 firmly in the green early on Tuesday as market participants digested last month's retail sales data.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.93% at 32,522.90, while the S&P 500 was 1.31% firmer at 4,060.69 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.61% stronger at 11,850.54.

The Dow opened 299.48 points higher on Tuesday, extending modest gains recorded in the previous session.

Tuesday's primary focus was news that Americans continued splashing out much more than expected last month. According to the Department of Commerce, retail sales volumes jumped at a month-on-month pace of 0.9% in April to reach $677.71bn. Economists had forecast a rise of 1.0%.

In other macro news, industrial production increased 6.4% in April, according to the Federal Reserve, following a downwardly revised 5.4% increase in March. Manufacturing output was up 5.8%, utilities were up 7.5%, and mining increased 8.6%.

Elsewhere, business inventories rose 2% month-on-month in March, quickening from an upwardly revised 1.8% increase in February, according to the Census Bureau, beating market expectations for a 1.9% advance.

Finally, the National Association of Housebuilder's housing market index fell for a fifth straight month in May, dropping to 69 from 77 in April, below market forecasts of 75 for the lowest level since June 2020, as rising mortgage rates and building material costs weighed on sentiment.

Also drawing an amount of investor attention was news that Shanghai had outlined plans to return to more normal life from 1 June by ending over six weeks of Covid-19 lockdowns that have brought about a sharp slowdown in the nation's economic activity. Deputy mayor Zong Ming said Shanghai's reopening would be carried out in stages, with movement curbs largely to remain in place until 21 May in order to prevent a rebound in infections, before a gradual easing.

"From June 1 to mid-and late June, as long as risks of a rebound in infections are controlled, we will fully implement epidemic prevention and control, normalise management and fully restore normal production and life in the city," Ming said.

On the corporate front, Elon Musk has warned that his $44.0bn takeover approach for Twitter could fail if the social media platform is unable to prove how many accounts are fake. The Tesla CEO first announced on Friday that the deal was "on hold" until he gets the proof that fake accounts total "well under 5%" rather than the "20% fake/spam accounts" he now believes it to be.

In terms of earnings, home improvement retailer Home Depot raised its full-year guidance early on Tuesday after posting solid quarterly earnings, driven by the company's strongest first-quarter sales in its history, while shares in department store giant Walmart slumped after reporting a Q1 earnings miss and guiding for flat Q2 earnings per share after previously pointing to a mid-single-digit increase.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $122.49 3.58%
American Express Co. (AXP) $161.11 2.99%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $311.54 2.67%
Boeing Co. (BA) $127.34 2.65%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $115.05 2.18%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $50.04 2.12%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $211.39 2.03%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $69.35 2.02%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $43.93 1.98%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $301.71 1.93%