US open: Stocks move higher at the bell despite ongoing trade tensions

Wall Street trading began on a positive note on Tuesday following the long Memorial Day weekend, despite the trade spat between the world's two largest economies remaining firmly in focus.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both ahead 0.26% and trading at 25,651.66 and 2,833.28, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was trading 0.37% firmer at 7,665.00.

The Dow opened 65 points higher even as all eyes remained firmly fixed on Washington and Beijing as Donald Trump, who had predicted a swift end to the trade war last week, said at a press conference in Japan on Monday that he was "not ready" to make a deal with China.

"I think they probably wish they made the deal that they had on the table before they tried to renegotiate it. They would like to make a deal. We're not ready to make a deal," he said.

Trump said American tariffs on Chinese goods "could go up very, very substantially, very easily."

Talks stalled earlier this month after Trump decided to ramp up tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods and blacklisted giant tech company Huawei.

"I think sometime in the future China and the United States will absolutely have a great trade deal, and we look forward to that," Trump said.

"Because I don’t believe that China can continue to pay these, really, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. I don't believe they can do that."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing on Monday: "The US has had various voices on China-US trade talks. Sometimes it is said that an agreement will be reached soon, and sometimes that it is difficult to reach an agreement."

"In the same period of time, China's position has always been the same. China has always believed that the differences between any two countries should, of course, be resolved through friendly consultations and negotiations."

Nonetheless, on Tuesday, according to Reuters, a senior official at the state planner said Beijing would prioritise domestic demand for so-called rare earths, in what appeared to be a clear move to amp up pressure on Washington.

On the data front, home price growth in the States cooled down further in March, according to the results of a widely-followed survey.

The year-on-year rate of increase in the S&P Core Logic Case-Shiller's national home price index slipped from the 3.9% pace observed in February to 3.7% for March.

It was a similar story in the case of the 20 largest US cities, with the rate of home price appreciation dipping from 3.0% to 2.7%, versus 6.7% one year back.

Elsewhere, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 134.1, up from April's reading of 129.2 and ahead of analysts expectations of 130.

"Consumer Confidence posted another gain in May and is now back to levels seen last Fall when the Index was hovering near 18-year highs,” said The Conference Board's senior director of economic indicators Lynn Franco.

The Dallas Fed's manufacturing data for May was still to come.

In corporate news, Global Payments was trading 1.07% lower at the bell after announcing it and TSYS had decided to merge via an all-share transaction, while Booz Allen Hamilton was down 1.40% in early trade despite beatings estimates with its fourth-quarter estimates.

Cloud-based software company Salesforce and aerospace and electronics firm Heico were also set to post results later in the session.

Shares of Beyond Meat were climbing almost 9% after analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch initiated their coverage of the stock at 'neutral' with an $85 target price.

Fiat Chrysler stock was also running higher after announcing the day before its intention to merge with Renault.

Dow Jones - Risers

Visa Inc. (V) $165.35 2.38%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $103.41 1.52%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $59.43 0.95%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $131.68 0.94%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $42.26 0.82%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $148.00 0.72%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $127.08 0.67%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $54.73 0.66%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $194.76 0.60%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $81.47 0.56%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $43.44 -2.52%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $191.29 -0.89%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $49.41 -0.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $122.18 -0.59%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.92 -0.51%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $178.42 -0.31%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $131.97 -0.23%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $73.66 -0.18%
3M Co. (MMM) $165.67 -0.12%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $199.04 0.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Total System Services Inc. (TSS) $120.98 21.44%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $28.27 6.92%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $44.14 4.37%
Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $65.92 4.04%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $190.17 3.02%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $35.23 2.95%
Mastercard Incorporated (MA) $256.45 2.69%
Visa Inc. (V) $165.35 2.38%
Target Corp. (TGT) $81.23 2.30%
Msci Inc. (MSCI) $222.55 2.24%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Altria Group Inc. (MO) $50.24 -4.88%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $45.48 -4.79%
Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) $82.34 -4.52%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $197.08 -4.43%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.17 -4.27%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $29.82 -4.15%
Molson Coors Brewing Co. Class B (TAP) $57.48 -3.26%
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $61.17 -3.03%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $64.87 -3.02%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $78.02 -2.98%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $44.14 4.37%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $35.23 2.95%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $25.52 2.45%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $606.83 2.41%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $24.97 2.29%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $215.30 2.17%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $374.65 2.13%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $112.12 2.07%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $107.05 1.93%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $279.43 1.70%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.17 -4.27%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $29.82 -4.15%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $64.87 -3.02%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $78.02 -2.98%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $43.44 -2.52%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $33.21 -2.32%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $87.56 -1.90%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $87.40 -1.87%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $251.62 -1.69%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $68.57 -1.38%