Nasdaq continues rally at open as PayPal climbs on bid, BlackRock earnings impress

Wall Street has opened Wednesday trading on the front foot, with investors digesting more earnings.

The Nasdaq has added 0.6% in initial trades, while the S&P 500 and the Dow both climbed 0.3%.

PayPal leapt 14.5% on a reported bid from that payments company Stripe and private equity firm Advent.

BlackRock is among the standout S&P performers, jumping more than 7% after the world's largest asset manager reported a record US$15 trillion of assets under management.

The group attracted US$192 billion of net inflows during the second quarter as investors continued to pour money into exchange-traded funds.

Elsewhere, uniform supplier Cintas rose 4.7%, while software groups Adobe and Workday were also among the leading gainers in the Nasdaq 100.

US stocks appeared set for a steady start on Wednesday as investors drew confidence from strong bank earnings and a softer-than-expected inflation report the day before, even as oil prices remained elevated following fresh US strikes on Iran.

Nasdaq futures were up 0.5% ahead of the opening bell, with S&P 500 futures up 0.1%, while those for the Dow Jones were little changed.

Wall Street finished mostly higher on Tuesday after June's consumer price data came in below expectations, easing concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates this month.

The Nasdaq climbed 0.9% to close at 26,107.01, the S&P added 0.4% to 7,543.59 and the Dow inched 10 points or 0.02% higher to 52,508.27.

European markets were weaker in Wednesday trading, however, as slower-than-expected Chinese economic growth weighed on sentiment. London's FTSE 100 was dragged lower by miners and other cyclical stocks after China GDP expanded 4.3% in the second quarter, its slowest pace since 2023 and below the government's 4.5%-5% target range. Germany's DAX was down 0.8%.

Oil prices were trading broadly sideways following the recent surge, with WTI crude up 0.5% at just under $80 a barrel. 

Investors were also watching PayPal, whose shares jumped over 18% in pre-market trading after Reuters reported that privately held Stripe had teamed up with Advent International to make a joint US$53 billion takeover approach.

Also, Nasdaq-listed ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, is set to climb around 3.5% after raising its 2026 guidance for a second time.

Earnings from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), BlackRock, Progressive and BNY are also out today.