9:45AM U.S. markets opened higher on mixed housing data and gains for Citigroup.
U.S. stocks advanced at opening on Wednesday, reflecting mixed housing data, speculation about Citigroup and a cautious outlook at chip-equipment maker Applied Materials. Dow component Citigroup (C: chart) jumped 3% after hedge-fund manager disclosed he bought more than 15 million shares in the bank. The blue-chip average received further support from gains in the shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart), up 1.8%, J.P.Morgan (JPM: chart), rising 1.4%, and Boeing (BA: chart), higher by 1%.

Tech stocks were pressured by Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) which fell 4.6% after forecasting flat Q3 sales and up to a 15% drop in orders. Rival chip equipment makers KLA-Tencor (KLAC: chart) fell 2.1% and Lam Research (LRCX: chart) slipped 2.7%. Homebuilders advanced as investors shrugged off data showing 8.9% drop in building permits. Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV: chart) rose 1.3%, while Toll Brothers (TOL: chart) added 0.3%.

Again in the tech sector, Agile Software (AGIL: chart) dropped 13% after agreeing to be bought by Oracle Systems (ORCL: chart) for $495 million, or $8.10 a share. On the earnings news front, Federated Department Stores (FD: chart) said it swung to a profit from a loss, although earnings fell short of analyst expectations. Jack in The Box (JBX: chart) climbed 5% after it reported a better-than-forecast 25% profit rise.

In early trading, the Dow rose 45.99, or 0.34%, to 13,429.83. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index rose 7.35, or 0.49%, to 1,508.54 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 10.78, or 0.43%, to 2,536.07. Bonds showed little change despite the economic readings. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note remained flat at 4.71% from late Tuesday.


9:30AM The UK index is lower Wednesday on weak retail sector.

By mid-day, the FTSE 100 shed 5 points, 0.1%, to 6,564.4.

Advancers

There were few advancers on Wednesday. Vedanta Resources gained 1.9% after it posted full-year revenues increased 76% to $6.5 billion and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and ammortisation more than doubled to $2.7 billion.

Catering company Compass, up 2.2%, was in demand after it reported a solid rise in first half operating profit and sees growth continuing.

Decliners

Next, down 5.8%, said trade has been extremely volatile, with a good Easter followed by a very disappointing first two weeks of May. The group continues to budget on the basis that first half same-store sales at Next Retail will be in the range -1% to -4%.

Land Securities shares dipped, down 3.7%, after it reported full-year profits declined and growth was slowing as expected. The real estate investment trust reported a 14 % rise in adjusted diluted net asset value.

Supermarket company J Sainsbury, down 0.1% reported a huge 42% increase in underlying profits last year to 380 million, adding it intends to retain ownership of its properties. Sales rose by 6.9% to 18.5 billion pounds.

Ex-dividend stocks were lower. Sage Group lost 1.2% and Carnival declined 1.6% as all these stocks went ex-dividend.


9:00AM Stock futures traded slightly higher.
U.S. stock futures moved slightly higher on Wednesday. Pre-market sentiment was supported by Citigroup (C: chart) which rose 1.7% after a hedge-fund manager bought the stock, but a cautious outlook at chip-equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) weighed, sending the stock down 4.2%. Among earnings-related movers, Jack in The Box (JBX: chart) rose 5.6% after it reported a better-than-forecast 25% profit rise. Federated department Stores (FD: chart) gained 0.8% although the retailer cut its Q2 earnings outlook. Deere & Co (DE: chart) said its profit dropped 16%, though it beat analyst expectations. Company''s stock gained 1.4%.

On the economic news front, the Commerce Department posted mixed housing data, as U.S. home builders pulled back on filing for permits to build homes in April, but the construction of new houses advanced. The government said building permits fell 8.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.429 million, coming in much lower than the 1.51 million pace expected by economists. The number of new houses started increased by 2.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.528 million, higher than the 1.48 million pace expected. S&P 500 futures rose 1.6 points at 1,501.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures improved 3.75 points at 1,887.25. Dow industrial futures rose 17 points.


8:45AM Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday with Japan up despite weak building sector.