US open: Positive open on the Street as bond yields remain in focus

Wall Street trading started on a positive note on Wednesday even as investors keep an eye on bond yields and geopolitical concerns weigh on sentiment.

At 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial had gained 0.11%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were ahead by 0.23% and 0.41%, respectively.

Stocks ended lower on Tuesday as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note crept back above 3% - to its highest point since 2011.

Rabobank said: "Though the Fed's Williams reiterated his stance as regards the need for three to four rate hikes from the Fed this year, the move looks to have been prompted by a firm retail sales print for April (+0.3%) while March figures were revised to show growth of 0.8%."

It added that the joint probability of a September and a December hike is now around 50%, higher than it has ever been this year.

Also weighing sentiment was news that North Korea has suspended talks with South Korea over the continuation of military drills with the US, and threatened to pull out of a planned summit with the US if it continues to pressure it to unilaterally abandon its nuclear weapons programme.

In economic news, the rate of US new home construction fell for the second time in four months, dragged down by starts on apartment buildings, adding to concerns for a housing market already weighed down by tight supply and rising prices.

New housing starts fell 3.7% in April to an annualised pace of 1.287m, according to the Census Bureau, a steeper decline than the 0.7% drop to 1.31m predicted by analysts.

Elsewhere, a report released by the Federal Reserve revealed that industrial production in the US increased a touch more than anticipated last month.

The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.7% in April, just above the 0.6% rise predicted by economists.

In corporate news, department store chain Macy's picked up 6.52% after reporting earnings before the opening bell and Helios and Matheson gained 2.96% after the MoviePass owner recorded an earnings beat on a revenue miss.

Cisco Systems is slated to report after the close of markets.

Market participants will also eye the release of the latest crude inventories figures from the EIA at 1530 BST, after OPEC published data showing that inventories in OECD countries had dropped to 9m barrels above the five-year average from 340m at the start of last year.