NEW YORK: Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday (Oct 24) as a spate of solid corporate earnings and upbeat forecasts stoked investor risk appetite and sparked a broad rally.
All three major US stock indices advanced, with interest rate sensitive megacaps providing much of the upside lift as benchmark Treasury yields held steady, comfortably below their recent spike to 5%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 204.97 points, or 0.62%, to 33,141.38, the S&P 500 gained 30.64 points, or 0.73%, to 4,247.68 and the Nasdaq Composite added 121.55 points, or 0.93%, to 13,139.88.
Third-quarter earnings season has shifted into high gear, and this week nearly a third of the companies in the S&P 500 are expected to post results.
“The earnings season is only now just getting into full swing with a third of the companies reporting this week,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt in Atlanta. “Prior to yesterday and today, the earnings reports were a bit on the disappointing side, and so this was the first couple of days we’ve had some more upbeat and better earnings.”
Indeed, of the 118 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 81% have beaten analysts' expectations, according to LSEG.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, utilities enjoyed the largest gain, while energy was the sole loser, weighed down by softening crude prices.
Verizon surged 9.3% after raising its annual free cash flow forecast, while General Electric rose 6.5% after the conglomerate lifted its full-year profit forecast.
Coca-Cola hiked its annual sales outlook, sending its stock up 2.9%, while 3M rose 5.3% on the heels of its upbeat quarterly report.
Aerospace firm RTX jumped 7.2% after its results topped expectations. – Reuters