Dow rises 100 points as treasury yields fall; Moderna surges on vaccine trial

US stocks opened higher on Wednesday after a technology-led selloff in the previous session, as falling Treasury yields provided relief to equity markets and investors assessed fresh retail earnings. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.37% and 0.28% respectively.

The decline in long-term Treasury yields followed the US Treasury Department's decision to at least double the size of its government debt buyback operations. 

The expanded program will target debt in the 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year segments of the market.

The 30-year Treasury yield, which had climbed above 5.33% on Tuesday to reach a 19-year high, fell nearly 9 basis points to 5.196%. 

The 10-year yield declined six basis points to 4.647%.

Investors remained focused on inflation, government borrowing and geopolitical risks after global bond yields reached multidecade highs in the previous session.

Moderna surges after cancer vaccine trial

Moderna shares were the biggest mover, rising more than 91% after interim results showed its experimental cancer vaccine, developed with Merck's Keytruda, met both primary goals in a late-stage melanoma trial.

Merck shares also climbed more than 8%, while biotech companies Novavax and BioNTech gained 3.8% and 16.4%, respectively.

The Moderna results provided support for the broader healthcare and biotechnology sectors as investors looked beyond the technology selloff that dominated Tuesday's session.

Marvell Technology was another major gainer, rising 10.67% after announcing an agreement with Google related to its tensor processing units. 

Marvell also issued Google a warrant to purchase nearly 59 million shares of its common stock, potentially giving Google a stake worth about $12.18 billion.

Estée Lauder shares climbed 15% after the cosmetics company forecast annual profit above Wall Street expectations, adding another positive earnings catalyst to the market.

Retail results and Fed minutes in focus

Retail earnings provided another focus for investors. 

Target edged 3.9% higher after raising its annual sales forecast as its turnaround efforts continued to gain traction. 

Lowe's, gained 1.46% even after saying it now expects no growth in annual comparable sales as consumers remain cautious about discretionary spending.

Walmart is scheduled to report quarterly results on Thursday, making its earnings an important indicator of the health of US consumer spending.

Investors are also awaiting the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes later Wednesday. 

The release comes after three officials dissented in favor of a rate hike at the July meeting, highlighting divisions within the central bank over monetary policy.

Markets currently see at least one 25-basis-point rate hike by the end of 2026, according to LSEG data, although expectations for a September hike have declined following softer inflation data.

Meanwhile, geopolitical risks remain a concern. 

President Donald Trump said no talks were taking place with Iran and maintained that the Strait of Hormuz was open, while Iran has said the waterway remains closed to shipping. 

Brent crude rose 0.2% to its highest level in three weeks.