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US open: Stocks in the green as earnings continue to trickle in

By Iain Gilbert

Date: Wednesday 19 Jan 2022

US open: Stocks in the green as earnings continue to trickle in

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Wednesday after major indices recorded heavy losses in the previous session amid rising bond yields.
As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.31% at 35,479.85, while the S&P 500 was 0.59% firmer at 4,604.34 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.86% stronger at 14,631.10.

The Dow opened 111.38 points higher on Wednesday, cutting into losses recorded in the previous session as market participants digested more corporate earnings and kept one eye on government bond yields sitting at pandemic-era highs.

Corporate earnings were again one of the session's primary focusses on Wednesday, with Bank of America beating estimates on the Street after releasing its Covid-19 pandemic-related loan loss reserves, while Procter & Gamble earnings topped estimates and raised its 2022 full-year forecasts.

UnitedHealth reiterated its full-year guidance after its fourth-quarter earnings came in slightly ahead of estimates and Morgan Stanley posted quarterly profits that beat expectations.

Still to come, United Airlines and Intel will publish their latest quarterly figures after the close.

Bond yields were still drawing investor attention as they remained elevated, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hovering around 1.854% shortly after the open.

On the macro front, mortgage applications rose 2.3% in the US last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, driven by a 7.9% increase in loans to buy a home, which was somewhat offset by a 3.1% drop in refinancing applications to their lowest level in over two years.

The move comes as the MBA's weekly measure of the average contract rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 3.64% in the week ended 14 January, up from 3.52% a week earlier to the highest level seen since March 2020, when the pandemic triggered a recession and drove borrowing costs to historic lows.

Elsewhere, US homebuilding unexpectedly increased in December but elevated prices for materials following a government decision to almost double duties on imported softwood lumber from Canada to 17.9% after a review of its anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders could potentially limit activity over the next few months.

According to the National Association of Housebuilders, housing starts rose 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.7m units last month, according to the Commerce Department, while data for November was revised slightly lower to a rate of 1.67m units. Economists had forecast starts slipping to 1.65m.

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