BENGALURU: Wall Street opened higher for the fourth straight day as increased prospects of central bank stimulus around the world bolstered investor confidence.
Investors were also taking stock of their holdings after a tumultuous week in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
The vote sparked a two-day panic sell-off, but markets clawed back their losses in the last three days.
The recovery rally was supported by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s comments on Thursday that raised the possibility of interest rate cuts to support the British economy.
“I think we are going to have a slow drift up,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer of Commonwealth Financial Network in Massachusetts.
“Everybody is at the beach already and I don’t expect a lot of action, in the absence of some kind of market-moving information.” US stock exchanges will be closed on Monday for the US Independence Day holiday.
At 9.37am. ET (1337 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 12.84 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 17,942.83, the S&P 500 was up 2.37 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 2,101.23 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 10.13 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 4,852.80.
Six of the 10 major S&P indexes were higher, with the consumer discretionary sector’s 0.46 per cent rise leading the gainers.
Yields on government bonds slipped around the world.
The yield on the US 30-year Treasury bond fell below 2.20 per cent in overnight trading, its lowest level in at least six decades. Long-term Treasury yields fell to around 2 per cent in the 1950s, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch research.
Financials fell 0.45 per cent and were the worst performers. Bank of America and Wells Fargo were among the top losers on the S&P 500.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity rose to 53.2 from 51.3 the month before. The reading was above expectations of 51.4 from a Reuters poll.
Data showed Chinese manufacturing activity stalled in June, boding ill for the global economy but raising expectations of stimulus to boost the world’s second-largest economy.
Micron fell 9.2 per cent to $12.50 in early trade after the chipmaker reported disappointing quarterly sales and forecast and said it would cut jobs.
Tesla fell 2.2 per cent to $207.50 after a fatal accident involving a Model S car operating in autopilot mode prompted investigation by US federal highway safety regulators.
Qualcomm fell 1 per cent after Evercore downgraded its shares to “hold” from “buy”.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,969 to 686. On the Nasdaq, 1,388 issues rose and 807 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed 74 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 3 new lows.
