US stocks opened higher Wednesday following mixed earnings reports as a weak Chinese economic report fueled talk of more monetary stimulus in the world's second-biggest economy.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,109.30, up 72.60 points (0.40 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 8.08 (0.39 percent) to 2,103.92, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 15.40 (0.31 percent) to 4,992.69.

Bank of America dropped 0.8 percent after returning to profitability in the first quarter with $3.4 billion, compared with a loss of $276 billion a year ago on a huge legal charge. But the bank's trading performance was lackluster.

Dow member Intel jumped 2.0 percent as first-quarter net income rose three percent to $2 billion despite weakness in its personal computer-related business.

China's economy slowed to an annual growth rate of 7.0 percent in the first quarter, official data showed Wednesday. That marked the weakest expansion since the first quarter of 2009, at the height of the global financial crisis, stoking speculation that the government will step up actions to support the economy.