US stocks rise ahead of Fed minutes

Wall Street stocks opened higher on Wednesday on mixed earnings reports from retailers ahead of the release of minutes from the April policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 75.84 (0.46 per cent) to 16,450.15. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 7.51 (0.40 pc) to 1,880.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 13.99 (0.34 pc) to 4,110.88. Jewelry company Tiffany shot up 8.9 pc after first-quarter earnings of 97 cents per share bested expectations by 19 cents and the company raised its full-year forecast. Chief executive Michael Kowalski called the results ‘an excellent and encouraging start to the year.’ Target slashed its 2014 earnings forecast from $3.85-$4.15 to $3.60-$3.95 citing, among other factors, expenses related to a giant data breach this winter. Shares rose 1.1 pc. Other retailers fell, including PetSmart (-7.1 pc) and American Eagle Outfitters (-2.8 pc). Investors were looking ahead to 1800 GMT release of minutes from the Fed’s April meeting at which the US central bank trimmed its stimulus but signaled that benchmark interest rates would remain low, according to AFP.