Wall Street opens higher ahead of March business surveys; Intel shines – Reuters

Wall Street opens higher ahead of March business surveys; Intel shines – Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday as Intel's shares surged on plans to expand advanced chip making capacity, while investors looked to business surveys for March and another day of testimonies from the top two U.S. economic officials.FILE PHOTO: The Wall Street sign is pictured at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo AllegriThe chipmaker's shares jumped about 5.7% as it announced plans to spend as much as $20 billion to build two factories in Arizona and open its factories to outside customers.U.S.-listed shares of rival Taiwan Semiconductor dropped 2.6%, while semiconductor equipment makers Lam Research Corp, Applied Materials Inc and ASML Holding gained between 4.4% and 5.7%.Wall Street's main indexes stumbled on Tuesday, weighed down by concerns about the cost of infrastructure spending and potential tax hikes to pay for President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill.U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will resume their Congressional hearings later in the day.Economy-linked energy and banks stocks have come under pressure recently as investors booked profits after a sharp rally on recovery hopes and moved into beaten-down technology and