US open: Stocks go green trying to rebound from two days of losses

Wall Street trading began on a positive note at the open on Thursday as US President Donald Trump declined to set a deadline on slapping tariffs on a further $325bn-worth of Chinese imports.

As of 1545 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 0.31% at 26,084.49, while the S&P 500 gained 0.40% to 2,891.49 and the Nasdaq Composite opened 0.61% firmer at 7,840.38

The Dow Jones opened 79 points higher after recording back-to-back losses in the last two sessions as Trump said he would not soften his stance unless Beijing agreed on as many as five "major points".

SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell said: "After sprinting out of the gate, rushing to 26,140, the Dow settled into more of a saunter, the index up around 40 points.

Traders and investors remained focused on global trade developments on Thursday as tensions between the two largest economies in the world intensified yet again.

While Donald Trump has long talked about pulling Xi Jinping aside later this month at a G20 meeting in Osaka, expectations that trade officials from the US and China will actually be able to clinch a deal faded in recent days.

Washington and Beijing have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of goods since the beginning of last year, weighing on markets and souring sentiment worldwide.

Meanwhile, oil prices recovered some of their recent losses after a tanker incident in the Gulf of Oman, bouncing back from a sell-off in the previous session when Crude futures tumbled as much as 4% to near five-month lows.

As of 1200 BST, West Texas Intermediate was changing hands 2.97% firmer at $52.66 a barrel, while Brent Crude was ahead 3.52% to $62.08.

In terms of data, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, according to figures from the Labor Department.

US initial jobless claims increased by 3,000 from the previous week's revised level to 222,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000. Economists had been expecting a drop to 216,000.

Elsewhere, US import prices dropped more than they had in the last five months in May, according to the Labor Department.

Import prices slid 0.3% last month, the biggest decline since December, while data for April was revised down to show import prices rising 0.1% instead of climbing 0.2% as previously reported.

Export prices fell 0.2% in May after nudging up 0.1% in April.

On the corporate front, Target shares ticked up in early trade after the retailer raised its quarterly dividend and Tyson Foods advanced after announcing it would lunch a new plant-based meat product to compete with Beyond Meat.

Chevron and ExxonMobil shares rose 1% apiece as the markets continued to digest news of oil tanker blasts in the Gulf of Oman.

Broadcom and Ventura Cannabis will report their most recent set of quarterly figures later on.