US open: Stocks mixed as traders eye earnings, monitor Iran tensions

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Wednesday as investors braced for another round of corporate earnings, while geopolitical tensions continued to simmer in the background.

As of 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.44% at 52,465.91, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.04% to 7,511.85, and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.25% softer at 25,773.59.

The Dow opened 232.27 points higher on Wednesday, building on gains recorded in the previous session as investors shifted focus back to a busy slate of corporate earnings.

Attention was firmly fixed on developments in the US-Iran conflict at the open on Wednesday. Speaking at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting in the Philippines, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was still committed to diplomacy but accused Tehran of breaching the two sides' agreement over the Strait of Hormuz, warning the US would act to protect its interests if talks failed.

Rubio's comments came as US Central Command carried out its 11th straight night of strikes, targeting Iranian military operations centres, maritime assets, aircraft hangars, drone storage sites and logistics infrastructure.

Oil extended its recent rally amid fears of supply disruption, with Brent up 3.53% at $94.22 a barrel and West Texas intermediate gaining 3.32% to $87.14 a barrel. The climb in energy prices fed into expectations of tighter Federal Reserve policy, with markets now pricing a 24.1% chance of a rate rise this month and a 69% probability of at least a quarterpoint increase in September.

In the corporate space, telecommunications firm AT&T posted a steady set of secondquarter numbers, with revenues up 2.3% yearonyear at $31.6bn, operating income rising to $7bn from $6.5bn, and diluted earnings per share improving to $0.66 from $0.62, while tobacco giant Philip Morris also reported higher Q2 revenue, advancing 10.4% year-on-year to $11.2bn.

Still to come, Alphabet, Tesla and IBM were all slated to report their latest quarterly numbers after the close.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications increased by 1.9% in the week ended 17 July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, bouncing back from two straight weekly losses. Last week's increase comes despite another period of increasing interest rates, with the benchmark 30-year fixed-mortgage rising four basis points to its highest level since August 2025. Applications to purchase a new home rose 6%, while applications to refinance a mortgage, which are generally more sensitive to short-term interest rate, fell by 2%.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $31.55 2.92%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.71 2.14%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $104.71 1.66%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $149.77 1.35%

3M Co. (MMM) $172.77 1.30%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $335.13 1.17%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $367.07 1.12%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $127.65 1.10%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $193.07 1.05%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $252.43 1.03%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $166.67 -2.25%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $392.64 -1.52%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $42.26 -0.84%

American Express Co. (AXP) $349.38 -0.65%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $887.99 -0.47%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $368.11 -0.18%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $433.87 -0.15%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $346.05 -0.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $287.37 8.83%

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $69.76 7.67%

General Motors Corp (GM) $83.51 4.94%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $191.34 4.91%

Genuine Parts Co. (GPC) $123.89 4.74%

AT&T Inc. (T) $23.17 4.59%

CME Group Inc. (CME) $252.05 4.55%

Celanese Corp. (CE) $48.56 4.52%

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) $193.33 4.32%

Kohls Corp. (KSS) $18.72 4.19%

S&P 500 - Fallers

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

TE Connectivity Ltd (TEL) $193.91 -6.39%

Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $43.49 -5.05%

Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $156.62 -3.73%

Chubb Corp. (CB) $341.57 -3.21%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $208.43 -3.04%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $25.86 -2.71%

TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $13.73 -2.61%

VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $265.21 -2.57%

Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) $179.29 -2.55%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $191.34 4.91%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $13.83 4.17%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $551.92 4.17%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $898.18 3.87%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $70.15 3.53%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $15.60 3.07%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $963.80 2.84%

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $202.82 2.75%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $117.64 2.42%

PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $128.04 2.13%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

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

NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $122.85 -6.33%

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $137.74 -4.32%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $129.46 -3.61%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $208.43 -3.04%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $25.86 -2.71%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $245.07 -2.25%

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $30.26 -2.07%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $289.75 -2.03%

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $43.12 -1.93%