US open: Mixed start to trading as Wall Street attempts to extend Tuesday's rally
ALPHABET-A
$171.95
13:09 26/04/24
Wall Street trading began on a generally positive note on Wednesday, with stocks attempting to extend the rally they initiated on Tuesday.
Nasdaq 100
17,718.30
12:15 26/04/24
As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was ahead 0.34% at 25,418.38 and the S&P 500 was moving 0.12% firmer to 2,806.57. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down by 0.12% at 7,517.99.
The Dow opened 86 points higher on Monday, a day after Wall Street stocks recorded their second best day of the year on Tuesday, closing 511 points higher.
Tuesday's rally was the result of market focus shifting from trade concerns to monetary policy after Fed chair Jerome Powell signalled the central bank would be open to easing monetary policy in order to save the economy.
Powell told an audience in Chicago that the central bank would "act as appropriate to sustain the expansion".
However, he added that the Fed did not know "how or when" global trade issues would be resolved. "We are closely monitoring the implications of these developments for the US economic outlook."
Asian stocks also climbed on Wednesday, building upon the gains seen Stateside on the back of Powell's comments.
Elsewhere, trade tensions remained in focus as Trump, during his state visit to the UK, doubled down on tariff threats against Mexico, stating that the new policy would "take effect next week".
However, Republican senators indicated they would not agree with the 5% levy on Mexican imports.
On the other side of the Pacific, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will meet with People's Bank of China Governor Yi Gang over the weekend, marking the first face-to-face meeting between those two top officials from the US and China.
In terms of economic data, hiring in the US hit a wall last month, according to the results of one of the most closely-followed surveys on the health of the US jobs market.
According to consultancy ADP, private sector payrolls increased by only 27,000 (consensus: 178,000) in May, for the lowest initial estimate since September 2010.
Elsewhere, IHS Markit's services and composite PMIs both came to 50.9 for May, in line with expectations and preliminary readings.
That figure was the service PMI lowest since February 2016, while the composite index was its weakest since May the same year and down sharply from its February high of 56.0.
Lastly, the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index revealed the US services sector expanded at a faster rate than expected in April.
The index rose to 56.9 in May from 55.5 in April, while business activity in the sector rose to 61.2 from 59.6 in April, its 118th consecutive month of expansion.
On the corporate front, Campbell Soup shares were trading 9% higher at the bell after posting stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings and boosting its full-year profit estimates, while GameStop shares tumbled 34% after releasing disappointing first-quarter earnings and cutting its dividend.
Salesforce.com was up 3.25% at the open after revealing overnight that earnings had risen more than 25%.
Shares in Google parent company Alphabet were down 2.02%, taking their toll on the Nasdaq Composite as a whole, after appealing a $1.7bn EU antitrust fine over its "illegal" advertising practices.