US stocks edge up, S&P 500 & Nasdaq set another record highs

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

Major US equity indices witnessed mixed opening on Wednesday, with a rally in tech stocks supporting the broader markets and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) treading water near yesterday's closing level.

During the opening hour of trade, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 30-points to fresh intraday record highs, while the broader S&P 500 Index also entered into record territory and added 6-points to 2,467. Meanwhile, DJIA was flat-lined around 21,578 as investors digested a batch of mixed corporate earnings reports.

Financial lead today's rally on Wednesday, with shares of Morgan Stanley rallying nearly 3.5% after reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue growth. Separately, shares of IBM, CSX Corp. and United Continental Holdings Inc. dropped anywhere between 4-4.5% during early trade after their releases late Tuesday.

Investors would continue to keep a close watch on the earnings report in order to justify current stretched valuations and the market's record setting rally following the US Presidential election.

On the economic data front, both the housing starts and building permits bettered expectations and rebounded sharply in June, but were largely ignored by the markets.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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