US open: Stocks mixed as Apple slips, investors watch midterms

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Tuesday, with investors digesting Apple's latest quarterly earnings and looking ahead to the US midterm elections.

As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.59% at 51,674.77, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.27% to 7,561.83 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.72% firmer at 25,344.45.

The Dow opened 309.21 points lower on Tuesday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session.

Apple shares fell 1.54% in early trading after the tech giant issued a weaker-than-expected margin outlook overnight and fiscal fourth-quarter iPad sales came in below Wall Street forecasts.

In terms of Tuesday's earnings, Shopify posted a 32% year-on-year increase in third-quarter revenues to $3.74bn, while gross profits rose to $1.78bn and operating income climbed to $568m. Looking ahead, the ecommerce platform said it expects fourth-quarter revenue growth in the low-30% range and gross profit growth in the high-20% range.

Pfizer reported third-quarter net income of $3.24bn, or $0.56 a share, with adjusted earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $16.58bn, beating analysts' forecasts on both the top and bottom lines, while Yum Brands also topped expectations as adjusted earnings rose to $1.56 per share from $1.49 expected on revenue of $2.05bn, although the KFC parent company said a cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell weighed on same-store sales growth during the period.

AMD, Super Micro Computer, Booking Holdings and Electronic Arts were all slated to report earnings after the close.

Investors were also keeping a close eye on the midterms on Tuesday, with prediction markets currently implying roughly a 75% chance of Democrats retaining control of the Senate. According to JPMorgan, a Democratic sweep of both chambers could trigger weakness in artificial intelligence-related stocks.

While Donald Trump remains in the White House, Democratic gains in either the House or Senate could still have significant implications for congressional oversight and investigations in Washington, with potential ramifications for sectors including defence, artificial intelligence and healthcare.

On the macro front, job openings were little changed in September at 7.5m, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' JOLTS jobs report, while the job openings rate held steady at 4.5%. Hiring activity was also broadly unchanged at 5.4m, though accommodation and food services recorded a notable increase. Total separations were largely flat at 5.3m, with the separations rate holding at 3.3% Workers appeared slightly more willing to change jobs during the month, with quits rising to 3.4m, although the quits rate remained steady at 2.1%. Layoffs and discharges were unchanged at 1.6m, with a decline in health care and social assistance offsetting weakness elsewhere. Over the past year, quits across the non-farm economy increased by 375,000, pointing to a labour market that remains relatively resilient despite signs of moderation in hiring demand.

Elsewhere, factory orders rose for a third straight month in September, increasing 1.8% to $677.2bn following a 0.3% gain in August, according to the Census Bureau. Shipments climbed 1.3% to $668.5bn, while unfilled orders increased 0.9% to $1.62trn, marking growth in 26 of the past 27 months. Inventories rose 0.4% to $976.0bn, extending a run of monthly increases to a full year, although both the unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio and inventories-to-shipments ratio edged lower to 6.84 and 1.46, respectively.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $621.55 1.19%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $895.90 0.06%

Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $0.00 0.00%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $269.55 -0.31%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $398.33 -0.32%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $339.07 -0.39%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $465.76 -0.41%

Boeing Co. (BA) $175.64 -0.54%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $216.38 -4.41%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $332.98 -3.20%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $334.33 -2.55%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $62.29 -2.36%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $245.73 -2.34%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $38.18 -2.19%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $511.48 -2.00%

3M Co. (MMM) $175.38 -1.62%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $146.21 -1.61%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $262.39 -1.60%

S&P 500 - Risers

Revvity, Inc. (RVTY) $167.98 12.08%

Eaton Corporation plc (ETN) $390.37 7.19%

Amphenol Corp. (APH) $84.77 6.47%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $54.15 5.99%

Corning Inc. (GLW) $127.71 4.91%

Clorox Co. (CLX) $92.84 4.53%

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $123.76 4.19%

Celanese Corp. (CE) $48.69 4.17%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $236.41 4.11%

Waters Corp. (WAT) $471.34 4.03%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Gartner Inc. (IT) $195.99 -17.46%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Ball Corp (BALL) $63.97 -6.84%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $86.14 -5.44%

Apache Corp. (APA) $48.00 -5.39%

Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $13.79 -5.18%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $545.31 -5.13%

Accenture Plc (ACN) $249.29 -4.97%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $216.38 -4.41%

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $71.52 -4.38%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $8.47 7.32%

Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $8.31 6.93%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $236.41 4.11%

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $27.10 3.53%

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $30.00 3.44%

Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $661.29 3.31%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $333.53 3.09%

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $41.46 2.38%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $967.79 2.15%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $58.35 1.49%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $55.40 -6.18%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $545.31 -5.13%

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $191.77 -3.93%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $242.64 -3.68%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $140.88 -3.66%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $85.14 -3.48%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $452.21 -3.34%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $312.79 -3.25%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $332.98 -3.20%