US open: Nasdaq rides gains in Netflix to new high
Wall Street is moving higher after Senators from both sides of the aisle agreed on a temporary deal to end the three-day government shutdown, with a surge in Netflix stock propelling the tech-heavy Nasdaq gauge to a record high.
At 1617 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was higher by 0.05% or 13.70 points to 26,229.78, while the S&P 500 was adding 0.25% or 7.05 points to 2,839.95 and the Nasdaq Composite 0.61% or 45.65 points to 7,453.61.
From a sector standpoint, the biggest gains were to be seen in: Coal (6.33%), Gambling (4.31%) and Oil equipment (3.54%).
As expected, the Senate did agree a deal after the close of markets on Monday that would keep the government running up to 8 February.
Helping to boost sentiment, strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised their year-end 2018 target for the S&P 500 from 2,800 points to 3,000.
"While 2017 saw building optimism, 2018 may be the year of euphoria. While valuations have overshot fair value, sentiment is likely to be the most important driver of returns − typical of late-stage bull markets.
"[...] 5%+ pullbacks historically occur 3x/year; there may be an opportunity to buy the market 5-10% off its highs," they said.
In corporate news, shares of video streaming service provider Netflix were surging, pushing its valuation past $100bn for the first time and to a new 52-week high. Overnight, the company said it had signed up 8.33m customers in the fourth quarter, beating expectations of 6.34m. It now has 117.6m customers worldwide.
Stock in Johnson & Johnson on the other hand was moving lower even after the healthcare giant posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations.
Meanwhile, Verizon Communications was also higher on the heels of its fourth-quarter numbers, while property and casualty insurer Travelers Cos was likely to be in focus after it posted a 42% drop in quarterly profit on the back of catastrophe losses from the California wildfires.
So too was that of Procter & Gamble, also after the consumer group's quarterly earnings beat analysts' forecasts.