Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened mixed on Wednesday, after remaining closed for two consecutive days in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as data showed that manufacturing activity in Chicago improved in October, although less-than-expected.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.41%, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.36%, while the Nasdaq Composite index slid 0.29%.
Data showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago area contracted for the second consecutive month in October.
Market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.9 in October from a reading of 49.7 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to improve to 50.0 in October.
Sentiment stregnthened earlier after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said earlier that his country needs the help of the European Union to meet its budget goals, and added that EU progress on a banking union would allow leeway on making a formal request for aid.
Auto stocks were active, as Ford Motor surged 4.46% after saying on Tuesday that it posted a better-than-expected profit in the third quarter.
Ford reported USD2.3 billion pretax profit in North America, its best performance since the company began reporting separate North American results 12 years ago.
General Motors also added to gains, with shares rallying 3.99% after the automaker posted better-than-expected earnings and said it was targeting a return to breakeven levels in its money-losing European operations by mid-decade.
In the tech sector, Advanced Micro Devices jumped 2.66% after introducing a new line of faster, more energy-efficient processors for handsets and to expand in the server market dominated by competitor Intel.
Elsewhere, Home Depot saw shares advance 3.23% after announcing that it successfully closed the merger of U.S. Home Systems, Inc. The deal has been valued at approximately USD95.0 million and is expected to help build a better relationship with the customers by providing them improved home services.
Also on the upside, U.S. lenders tracked their European counterparts higher, as shares in JP Morgan rose 0.39% and Bank of America climbed 0.88%, while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs surged 1.17% and 1.56% respectively.
Companies that have delayed posting third quarter earnings from Wednesday until Thursday include Arch Capital, Automatic Data Processing and Avon Products.
Hess, Dendreon and McGraw Hill delayed until Friday.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.24%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.03%, Germany's DAX added 0.28%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.40%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.98%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce a government report on crude oil inventories.