Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, supported by a better-than-expected durable goods orders report from the U.S., while investors continued to eye a key European Union summit due to begin later this week.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.21%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.36%, while the Nasdaq Composite index gained 0.33%.
Official data showed earlier that U.S. durable goods orders rose 1.1% in May, beating expectations for a 0.4% increase, indicating that the manufacturing sector is stabilizing following a 0.2% drop in May.
However, core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in May, missing expectations for a 0.7% gain.
Meanwhile, hopes that European leaders would make progress on dealing with the debt crisis in the euro area faded after German Chancellor Angel Merkel reiterated her opposition to the idea of joint euro zone bonds on Tuesday.
Investors were looking ahead to the outcome of talks between Chancellor Merkel and French President François Hollande later, ahead of the EU summit meeting on Thursday and Friday.
The tech sector was particularly in focus on Wednesday, beginning with Google, whose shares jumped 1.05%, as the company was planning to unveil a USD199 tablet co-branded with Tawian's Asustek Computer at its developer conference this week.
Meanwhile, shares in Apple were up 0.49% after a judge on Tuesday backed the company’s request to stop Samsung Electronics from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the U.S., giving the iPhone maker a significant win in the global smartphone and tablet patent wars.
After rallying over 8% on Tuesday, shares in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. were up 1.56%, still boosted by news that the company will likely be divided into two separate entities.
Also in the upside, drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb surged 1.19% after that its board authorized the repurchase of USD3 billion of the company's common stock in addition to the USD3 billion share buyback program it announced in 2010.
Among earnings, Lennar saw shares rally 4.38% after the homebuilder posted results that beat expectations and handed in a gain in new orders for the fifth-consecutive quarter.
Elsewhere, Best Buy declined 0.46% amid reports founder Richard Schulze is working with banks including Credit Suisse to explore a potential private takeover of the world's largest consumer electronics retailer.
In the Internet sector, Facebook shares plunged 3.14%, erasing Tuesday’s strong gains, after Wall Street's top financial firms gave the company mixed ratings, almost a month after the social-networking giant's market debut.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.47%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.68%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.56%, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.67%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.8%.
Also Wednesday, Italy saw borrowing costs climb to the highest level since December at an auction of six-month government bonds, as investor sentiment towards Italy continued to deteriorate.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on pending home sales and a government report on crude oil stockpiles.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.21%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.36%, while the Nasdaq Composite index gained 0.33%.
Official data showed earlier that U.S. durable goods orders rose 1.1% in May, beating expectations for a 0.4% increase, indicating that the manufacturing sector is stabilizing following a 0.2% drop in May.
However, core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in May, missing expectations for a 0.7% gain.
Meanwhile, hopes that European leaders would make progress on dealing with the debt crisis in the euro area faded after German Chancellor Angel Merkel reiterated her opposition to the idea of joint euro zone bonds on Tuesday.
Investors were looking ahead to the outcome of talks between Chancellor Merkel and French President François Hollande later, ahead of the EU summit meeting on Thursday and Friday.
The tech sector was particularly in focus on Wednesday, beginning with Google, whose shares jumped 1.05%, as the company was planning to unveil a USD199 tablet co-branded with Tawian's Asustek Computer at its developer conference this week.
Meanwhile, shares in Apple were up 0.49% after a judge on Tuesday backed the company’s request to stop Samsung Electronics from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the U.S., giving the iPhone maker a significant win in the global smartphone and tablet patent wars.
After rallying over 8% on Tuesday, shares in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. were up 1.56%, still boosted by news that the company will likely be divided into two separate entities.
Also in the upside, drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb surged 1.19% after that its board authorized the repurchase of USD3 billion of the company's common stock in addition to the USD3 billion share buyback program it announced in 2010.
Among earnings, Lennar saw shares rally 4.38% after the homebuilder posted results that beat expectations and handed in a gain in new orders for the fifth-consecutive quarter.
Elsewhere, Best Buy declined 0.46% amid reports founder Richard Schulze is working with banks including Credit Suisse to explore a potential private takeover of the world's largest consumer electronics retailer.
In the Internet sector, Facebook shares plunged 3.14%, erasing Tuesday’s strong gains, after Wall Street's top financial firms gave the company mixed ratings, almost a month after the social-networking giant's market debut.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.47%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.68%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.56%, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.67%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.8%.
Also Wednesday, Italy saw borrowing costs climb to the highest level since December at an auction of six-month government bonds, as investor sentiment towards Italy continued to deteriorate.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on pending home sales and a government report on crude oil stockpiles.