by Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply higher on Monday, amid optimism ahead of the start of the quarterly earnings season, even as investors continued to monitor developments in the conflict between Israel and Gaza, without this seeming to affect risk-taking.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.93%, or 314.25 points, to 33,984.54 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 45.85 points, or 1.06%, to 4,373.63 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 160.75 points (1.20%) to 13,567.98 points.

The CBOE Volatility Index, considered a gauge of the level of fear on Wall Street, fell, while all major sectors of the S&P-500 finished in the green.

The Dow recorded its largest one-day percentage gain in about a month.

Major banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, automaker Tesla and streaming platform Netflix are among the companies kicking off earnings season this week.

The turnover of S&P-500 companies is expected to increase in the third quarter by 2.2% year-on-year, according to LSEG data released on Friday, compared to a prior estimate of +1.3% a week later. early.

“At least for today, the market sees a stronger earnings season (…) and perhaps a turnaround regarding the conflict” in the Middle East, commented Quincy Krosby, chief strategist at LPL Financial, at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Regarding interest rates, the President of the Philadelphia Fed, Patrick Harker, repeated that in his opinion the American central bank had probably completed the cycle of monetary tightening that began in March 2022 to curb inflation.

On the value side, Lululemon Athletica increased by 10.3% to reach a peak in almost two years while the Canadian sports clothing manufacturer will join the S&P-500 this week, replacing Activision Blizzard.

( Jean Terzian)

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