US: Wall St opens higher after retail sales data

WALL STREET’S main indexes opened higher on Wednesday (Jan 18) after a bigger-than-expected drop in December retail sales supported hopes of smaller interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, while gains in Tesla and Microsoft boosted the Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 75.84 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 11,170.95 at the opening bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.64 points, or 0.11 per cent, at the open to 33,948.49, while the S&P 500 opened higher by 11.28 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 4,002.25. REUTERS