Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, after the release of upbeat report on U.S. durable goods orders and as expectations for further easing by the European Central Bank and China also continued to support.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 gained 0.42%, the S&P 500 rose 0.35%, while the Nasdaq added 0.30%.
The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders rose 2.2% last month, snapping two months of declines and surpassing expectations for a 1% increase.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, inched up 0.2%, slightly below forecasts for a 0.3% gain.
The data indicated that economy is gaining momentum in the wake of a weather induced slowdown.
Equities strengthened on Tuesday after ECB governing council member and Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said that a negative deposit rate could be an appropriate way to address the impact of strong gains in the euro.
Separately, traders were hoping China will announce stimulus measures after a report on Monday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity deteriorated for a third successive month in March.
Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX.O) gained 0.62% after it announced that it had appointed Lachlan Murdoch as non-executive co-chairman and promoted James Murdoch to co-chief operating officer.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) was up 0.06% after plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the automaker reportedly asked a federal judge in Texas to force the company to send a "Park it Now" warning to car owners not to drive recalled models until faulty ignitions are fixed.
In the same sector, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) tumbled 1.45%, even as an Ohio Senate panel passed a measure that would allow the electric-car maker to run retail outlets in the state.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) slipped 0.23% after the social media giant said it is buying Oculus VR Inc., which makes a ski-goggles-like device called Rift that people can wear to play games.
Elsewhere, King Digital Entertainment, the maker of the "Candy Crush" game, was set to debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 jumped 1.45%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.16%, Germany's DAX rallied 1.44%, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.49%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.72%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.37%.