US open: Wal Mart and Home Depot keep Dow in the green in early trading

Wall Street's main market gauges started the session on a mixed note following a weak reading for US housing starts, although better-than-expected quarterly reports out of retail giants Wal Mart and Home Depot were keeping the Dow in the green.

Despite the caution in the air, BofA Securities equity strategist, Michael Hartnett, judged that there would be no immediate reversal of the current bear market rally, although he recommended "fading" the S&P 500 above 4,328.

Hartnett was speaking following the release of the investment bank's monthly fund manager survey, which revealed that while fund managers' cash levels had declined from 6.1% in July to 5.7%, they remained "very high".

As of 1451 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was up by 7.17 points or 0.02% to 33,920.53, alongside a 10.06 point or 0.21% decline on the S&P 500 to 4,288.42.

The Nasdaq Composite meanwhile was down by 0.62% or 79.74 points at 13,047.94.

In parallel, front-dated West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were flat, as investors weighed recession risks and - possibly - the impact of a new deal on Iran's nuclear programme.

But NYMEX natural gas futures were jumping 6% to $9.240/mmBtu and approaching a new 14-year high, pulled higher by another surge in Dutch TTF futures.

The US dollar meanwhile had come off its session highs to trade roughly unchanged at 106.60 on the back of an unexpectedly weak reading for US housing starts.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the annualised rate of housing starts in July fell at a month-on-month pace of 9.6% to reach 1.446m (consensus: 1.54m).

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, labelled the starts data "horrible", explaining that it was the fifth consecutive monthly drop, the largest of the sequence, and that the annualised rate of starts had fallen below 1.0m for the first time since June 2020.

On the other hand, US industrial production rose a bit more quickly than expect last month.

Commerce said that total industrial output grew at a month-on-month pace of 0.6% in July (consensus: 0.3%).

On the company side of things, Wal Mart was a top gainer, jumping 5% after the retailing giant posted better-than-expected sales and earnings for the three months to June and revised its guidance for sales growth in 2023 a tad higher.

Home Depot shares were also on the up, adding 2% after the DIY retailer beat analysts' estimates for its second quarter.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $139.70 5.35%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $318.61 1.27%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $253.09 0.80%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $149.67 0.75%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $173.19 0.60%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $55.62 0.51%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $135.56 0.47%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $41.25 0.44%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $157.26 0.29%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $64.67 0.26%