US open: Unsteady start to Wall Street trading as IBM weighs on Dow
Wall Street trading opened on a mixed note on Wednesday, with solid earnings from banking giant Morgan Stanley being offset by a struggling IBM weighing on the blue-chip gauge.
At 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were down 0.19% and 0.18%, respectively, while the Nasdaq had picked up just 0.01%.
Speaking before the open, Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said, "While nothing has necessarily improved, per say, the absence of retaliation since the air strikes by the US, UK and France in Syria last weekend has been welcomed by investors who are relieved at the current lack of escalation. With the Dow steadily creeping back towards 25,000, investors are becoming increasingly comfortable again although I feel it will not take much to shake things up again and send markets spiralling lower."
In corporate news, Morgan Stanley posted a 40% rise in first-quarter profit, with revenue at a record level, thanks in part to a jump in trading revenue on the back of market volatility, sending its shares higher by 1.85%.
United Continental Holdings advanced 2.52% after its first-quarter earnings late on Tuesday beat expectations, but a fall in International Business Machines stock was dragging on the entire market as the company's first-quarter margins missed forecasts.
Although IBM's profit and revenue were ahead of expectations, its adjusted gross profit margin declined to 43.7% from 44.5% the year before, a drop the group attributed to significant one-time charges.
Shares of the New York-based tech giant were down 6.80% in early trading.
Southwest Airlines was, surprisingly, up 2.01% after a woman died on a flight from New York to Texas as debris from a blown jet engine smashed a window at 32,000 feet and passengers scrambled to save her from being sucked out of the plane. The airline has now launched an investigation into the accident.
Emerson was up 1.43% after it announced it would buy Textron's tools and test equipment business for $810m. Textron was up 6.74% shortly after the bell.
Elsewhere, the Fed's Beige Book was due out at 1900 BST. Investors were also waiting on speeches from New York Fed President William Dudley and the Fed's vice chair for bank supervision, Randy Quarles, later in the day.