US open: Stocks record early gains as earnings continue to roll in
Wall Street stocks were higher at the bell on Wednesday amid a flurry of corporate earnings.
As of 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.17% higher at 28,728.16, while the S&P 500 was 0.20% firmer at 3,518.89 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session up 0.16% at 11,883.42.
The Dow Jones opened 48.35 points higher on Wednesday, cutting into losses recorded in the previous session as market participants digested some key corporate earnings and news of a pause in multiple Covid-19 vaccine studies.
Quarterly earnings looked set to remain firmly in focus again on Wednesday, with Bank of America being the first cab off the rank and posting an earnings beat despite lagging on revenues, while Wells Fargo posted some disappointing third-quarter earnings as low rates hurt the bank's net interest income throughout the period.
Goldman Sachs blew past analysts' estimates for earnings in its third-quarter thanks to a strong showing from its Global Markets and Investment Banking arms, while UnitedHealth raised its full-year 2020 profit forecasts after topping third-quarter earnings estimates.
United Airlines will report later in the day.
Also in focus, news that Eli Lilly had paused a trial of its Covid-19 antibody due to a "potential safety concern" weighed on sentiment and came just after Johnson & Johnson opted to halt its own vaccine trial following an "adverse event".
Stimulus talks were also still drawing attention on Thursday, as was election polling, which currently has Joe Biden ahead by 17 points on a national basis.
On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 0.7% in the week ended 9 October, after increasing 4.6% in the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to refinance a home loan dropped 0.3% and homebuyer mortgage applications declined 1.6% despite the average fixed 30-year mortgage rate falling one basis point to a fresh record low of 3.00%.
Elsewhere, producer prices in the States increased more than expected last month, boosted by higher prices for food. According to the Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices rose at a month-on-month clip of 0.4%, leading to an acceleration in the year-on-year rate of price gains from -0.2% to 0.4% (consensus: 0.2%).
Similarly, the annual rate of increases in core final demand prices, which exclude food, energy and trade, picked-up from 0.3% to 0.7%, while prices for final demand goods and services were both up by 0.4% on the month.
In remarks prepared for a conference at the International Institute of Finance, the Federal Reserve vice-president Richard Clarida said the flow of economic data since May had been "surprisingly strong". However, Clarida added that further assistance for the economy, both from the Fed itself and from Congress, would be needed.
Federal Reserve presidents Randal Quarles and Robert Kaplan will also make comments on Wednesday.