Off the wire
• Urgent: Rand Paul announces 2016 White House bid  • 1st LD: Russian nuclear sub on fire in dock, no casualties  • Euro zone industrial producer prices slightly up in Feb.  • Al-Shabaab bomb kills 1 in Central Somalia  • China, Ethiopia pledge closer ties  • Flood control,draught relief urgent tasks this year: vice premier  • New president appointed for China's CCTV  • Volunteers actively registering for military service in Lithuania: Defense Minister  • Feature: IS scary tactics push afflicted people to flee Yarmouk Camp  • Taiwan punishes officers after celebrity's Apache chopper visit  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. stocks open higher ahead of earnings season

Xinhua, April 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday as investors await the beginning of an earnings season against the backdrop of low oil prices and a strong U.S. dollar.

Investors will also watch the Wednesday afternoon release of the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting minutes. Wall Street will be looking for hints of a delay in raising interest rates.

European equities were higher on Tuesday, as eurozone services PMI rose to 54.2 from 53.7 in February.

In corporate news, FedEx has agreed to acquire struggling TNT Express for 4.8 billion dollars in a deal that will give the U.S. company access to the Dutch package-delivery firm's European road network.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55.72 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,936.57. The S&P 500 rose 4.67 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,085.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 15.62 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,932.93.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, as the unexpectedly weak jobs report gave investors some relief that the Federal Reserve will move more slowly in raising rates.

The U.S. economy added 126,000 jobs in March, well below economists' estimate of 245,000, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. Endi