US open: Stocks rise on strong Q4 bank earnings

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Thursday as fourth quarter earnings continued to roll in.

As of 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.63% at 49,460.50, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.59% to 6,967.23, and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.74% firmer at 23,645.51.

The Dow opened 310.87 points higher on Thursday, more than reversing losses recorded in the previous session.

Banks remained in focus at the open, with asset manager BlackRock posting its biggest quarterly inflows on record, pushing assets under management above $14trn for the first time in the company's history, while quarterly profits at Goldman Sachs comfortably beat expectations, boosted by higher investment banking fees and bumper trading revenues.

Morgan Stanley also posted forecast-beating results for the fourth quarter as the US banking giant topped both revenue and profit estimates on the back of a strong wealth management performance. Revenues came in at a record $17.89bn in the fourth quarter, up from $16.22bn the year before, comfortably ahead of the $17.77bn consensus forecast

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest computer chip maker, was also in the spotlight after it reported a net profit of NT$ 506bn (�11.92bn) for the October to December quarter, up 35% from a year earlier and ahead of analysts' estimates.

TSMC's earnings came hot on the heels of Donald Trump's move to impose a 25% tariff on certain semiconductors. However, he also said the levy will not apply to chips imported to contribute to the buildout of America's technology supply chain. Micron Technology, Nvidia, and VanEck also traded higher on the news.

On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 10 January, according to the Department of Labor. Initial jobless claims decreased to 198,000, down by 9,000 from the prior week's downwardly revised level, while continuing claims decreased by 19,000 to 1.88m. Meanwhile, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending 3 January, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.

Elsewhere, US import prices rose 0.4% in the two months ended 30 November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or 0.1% in the 12 months through November, while export prices increased 0.5% over the two-month period and 3.3% over the year, as higher prices for agricultural exports and non-agricultural exports drove the advance.

On another note, the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index unexpectedly improved to 12.6 in January, easily beating the -3.5 consensus, up from the prior week's upwardly revised reading of -8.8. The index for future activity declined to 25.5 in January, down from 38.1 in December, with almost 35% of firms expecting an increase in activity over the next six months.

Finally, the NY Empire State manufacturing index jumped to 7.7 in January, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, up from a revised -3.7 in December and beating forecasts of 1.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $247.64 2.07%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $951.69 2.04%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $75.53 1.51%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $312.25 1.42%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $647.53 1.37%

3M Co. (MMM) $171.45 0.86%

Visa Inc. (V) $330.79 0.49%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $273.59 0.31%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $377.05 0.29%

American Express Co. (AXP) $359.30 0.29%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $108.72 -2.06%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $27.80 -1.63%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $235.95 -1.51%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $64.70 -1.33%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.32 -1.28%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $144.87 -1.01%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $331.88 -0.92%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.62 -0.80%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $305.96 -0.70%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $326.94 -0.62%

S&P 500 - Risers

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $326.28 8.08%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,541.01 7.42%

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $8.74 6.52%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $220.50 5.61%

Amphenol Corp. (APH) $154.80 5.49%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $235.75 5.43%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $226.18 5.20%

Blackrock Inc. (BLK) $1,148.09 5.15%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $327.00 4.42%

Morgan Stanley (MS) $188.29 4.15%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $89.25 -4.80%

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $1,031.18 -3.92%

Apache Corp. (APA) $25.65 -3.90%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $195.15 -3.55%

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $34.82 -3.52%

Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $5.43 -3.04%

Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $5.64 -2.76%

Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $14.98 -2.35%

Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $41.94 -2.19%

Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $3.14 -2.18%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $10.18 8.76%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $326.28 8.08%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,541.01 7.42%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,346.55 6.55%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $220.50 5.61%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $226.18 5.20%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $327.00 4.42%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $344.65 3.39%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $188.36 2.85%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $15.56 2.77%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $195.15 -3.55%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $58.58 -2.15%

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $29.19 -2.13%

NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $136.20 -2.01%

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $61.85 -1.48%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $85.46 -1.42%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $332.31 -1.05%

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $162.85 -1.03%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $57.07 -1.02%

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $243.13 -0.96%