U.S. stocks open higher amid positive earnings

NEW YORK, April 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as corporate earnings season continued its strong performance.

Before Wednesday's opening bell, Morgan Stanley reported net revenues of 11.1 billion U.S. dollars for the first quarter ended March 31 compared with 9.7 billion dollars a year ago.

For the current quarter, net income applicable to Morgan Stanley was 2.7 billion dollars, or 1.45 dollars per diluted share, compared with net income of 1.9 billion dollars, or 1.00 dollar per diluted share, for the same period a year ago.

Following the release of the better-than-expected quarterly results, the U.S. bank's shares traded over 1 percent higher in the early trading Wednesday.

Shares of United Continental Holdings increased more than 2 percent after the parent company of United Airlines delivered quarterly results that beat market estimates.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the first quarter of 2018 are expected to rise by 19.2 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase by 7.5 percent.

Investors also kept a close eye on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which is scheduled to be released in the afternoon, for more clues on the performance of the U.S. economy.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.50 points, or 0.06 percent, to 24,801.13. The S&P 500 increased 4.79 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,711.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 8.40 points, or 0.12 percent, to 7,289.50.

U.S. stocks extended gains on Tuesday as Wall Street cheered over a string of strong quarterly earnings reports amid upbeat economic data. Enditem