US open: Positive start on Wall Street as geopolitical tensions ease
Wall Street trading opened on a positive note on Thursday following heavy losses in the previous session, after Donald Trump backtracked on the aggressive stance he took on Syria a day earlier.
At 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were up 1.25% and 1.22%, respectively, while the S&P 500 had moved 0.98% firmer.
Following on from his very provocative tweet a day earlier, in which he told Russia to "get ready" for missiles coming at Syria, Trump tweeted on Thursday: "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our 'Thank you America'?"
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "This apparent de-escalation - however, temporary; the tone of Trump’s twitter is often a coin toss - has allowed the markets to shake off their initial reticence."
He pointed out that the Dow is looking at a 100-point climb after the openng bell, a move that would send the index back towards 24,300, keeping it at the top end of its recent trading bracket.
"There's nothing this afternoon to draw attention data-wise, so investors’ attention may well linger on their twitter feeds," Campbell said.
On the corporate front, Bed Bath & Beyond tumbled 18.81% on the back of a bleak outlook.
BlackRock was up 2.61% as it posted a 28% year-on-year jump in first-quarter earnings, while Delta Airlines advanced 3.85% after its first-quarter profit and sales beat expectations.
Elsewhere, Rite Aid gained 2.15% after the drugstore chain's fourth-quarter results impressed, while housebuilder Lennar dropped 1.96% after it said chief executive officer Stuart Muller will become executive chairman and be replaced by current president Rick Beckwitt.
On the macroeconomic side, US initial jobless claims were down 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 233,000, meaning the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell a little less than expected, according to data from the Labor Department.
Economists had been expecting a slightly bigger drop to 230,000.
The four-week moving average rose by 1,750 to 230,000. The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market.
A separate report released by the Labor Department revealed that import prices remained unchanged throughout March after climbing by 0.3% in February, but export prices had increased more than expected by analysts.
Economists had expected import prices to rise by 0.2%.
Meanwhile, the Labour Department showed a 0.3% uptick in export prices in March after rising by 0.2% in the previous month. Export prices had been expected to rise by 0.2%.