WASHINGTON, Jan 13 ― Wall Street stocks were flat early Wednesday, with Intel surging on a new CEO appointment as investors monitored a Capitol Hill debate on impeaching US President Donald Trump.

Shares of Intel surged about 10 per cent as the chipmaker named VMware head Pat Gelsinger as its new chief executive, replacing Bob Swan after pressure from activist investors. 

Equities have been choppy this week in the aftermath of last week’s siege of the US Capital by Trump supporters. Democratic leaders plan to hold a vote on impeaching Trump for inciting the attack. 

"The impeachment dealings in Washington are generating a lot of attention, yet they have not generated any meaningful reaction in the market,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down slightly at 31,064.01.

The broad-based S&P 500 was unchanged at 3,801.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 per cent at 13,096.29.

Among individual companies, Target fell 1.0 per cent as it reported a 17.2 per cent jump in comparable sales growth for the key holiday shopping season. 

Visa advanced 0.4 per cent as it dropped a US$5.3 billion plan to acquire financial technology company Plaid following opposition from the Justice Department. 

The company said it was confident the transaction did not violate antitrust laws, but that it wanted to avoid a lengthy legal battle. ― AFP