by Stephen Culp
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Tuesday as a wave of strong quarterly results and upbeat forecasts from S&P-500 companies fueled investors’ appetite for risk and lifted majors clues in the green, the day after a contrasting session.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.62%, or 204.97 points, to 33,141.38 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 30.64 points, or 0.73%, to 4,247.68 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 121.55 points (0.93%) to 13,139.88 points.
High growth stocks, sensitive to interest rates, were the catalysts of the session, while bond yields remained stable, below their recent peak of 5%.
“We are in the heart of earnings season, there are a lot of things to focus on for the ‘tech’ giants,” commented Bill Merz, managing director at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis, while several giants technology companies publish their results this week – including Microsoft and Alphabet after the close on Tuesday.
“We had a pullback in the ten-year US Treasury yield yesterday, there was no rebound today, so that added to the optimism,” he said.
Nearly a third of S&P-500 companies report quarterly results this week, marking an acceleration of this earnings season. Of the 118 companies that have already published their sales figures, 81% beat analysts’ expectations, according to LSEG.
In addition to the results, investors are awaiting the publication on Thursday of the first estimate from the American Department of Commerce on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States in the third quarter, expected to accelerate with growth of 4.3% against +2, 1% over the April-June period.
The US Department of Commerce is then due to release consumption data on Friday, which will provide investors with additional information on the trajectory of inflation.
Among the major sectors of the S&P-500, utilities recorded the biggest gain of the day, while energy was the only sector to finish in the red, in the wake of the decline in crude prices.
On the value side, Verizon jumped 9.3% after raising its annual free cash flow forecast.
General Electric ended up 6.5% in the wake of an upwardly revised annual revenue forecast.
Coca-Cola rose 2.9% after announcing an optimistic annual sales target.
( Jean Terzian)
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