Stocks advanced at the start of trade Tuesday, with Wall Street looking to build on the previous session’s modest gains as earnings season gains steam.
How are the major benchmarks faring?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.32% rose 108 points, or 0.4%, to 27,279, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.25% advanced 11 points, or 0.4%, to 2,996. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.20% gained 31 points, or 0.4%, to 8,235.
Equity benchmarks edged higher Monday. The Dow eked out a 17.7 point gain, a rise of less than 0.1%, to end at 27,171.90, while the S&P 500 rose 8.42 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2,985.03. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 57.65 points, or 0.7%, to 8,204.14.
What’s driving the market?
Tuesday features corporate results from heavyweights, including Dow-members Coca-Cola Co. KO, +4.96% and United Technologies Corp. UTX, +1.62% which were already rolling in ahead of the bell.
Coca-Cola shares were up 3.6% early Tuesday, after reporting second-quarter results, while United Technologies added 2% after lifting earnings guidance.
Expectations the Federal Reserve will deliver at least a quarter-point rate cut when policy makers meet at the end of the month have underpinned stocks, analysts said. Expectations the European Central Bank will signal further easing measures are in the offing when its policy makers meet on Thursday were also seen as a factor buoying global equities.
“Stocks are rallying this morning as the feel-good factor in relation to central bank expectations continues to circulate,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a note.
“The European Central Bank meeting is on Thursday, and traders are at least expecting some dovish language, and there is a possibility the ECB might cut rates as the Fed are widely expected to lower rates at the end of the month,” he said. “Corporate earnings are on the rise, but they are playing second fiddle to the central bank expectations.”
Late Monday, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders announced a budget deal that would avoid the possibility of a government shutdown or federal default.
Investors were also watching the U.K., where Brexit hard-liner Boris Johnson was declared the victor in the Conservative Party’s leadership contest, allowing him to take over as prime minister from Theresa May.
Read: Brace yourselves for Britain’s new prime minister — here’s how markets may react
Which stocks are in focus?
Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.54% shares rose 0.5%Tuesday, following a report in the Wall Street Journal that it is in “advanced talks’ to buy Intel Corp.’s smartphone-modem chip business, valued at $1 billion. Apple stock rose 2.3% Monday, the best performing stock in the Dow. Intel shares advanced 0.9%.
Fellow Dow component Travelers Cos. Inc. stock fell 0.5%, after the insurance giant reported second-quarter earnings and profits that fell short of analyst forecasts.
Hasbro Inc. HAS, +6.11% stock jumped 8.8% Tuesday morning, after the toy maker handily beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit and sales.
Shares of Biogen Inc. BIIB, +4.88% were also on the rise after the company topped earnings forecasts and raised its outlook. The stock was up 5.2% Tuesday morning.
Lockhead Martin Corp. LMT, -1.37% stock rose 0.4%, after the aerospace and defense manufacturer surpassed analyst expectations for second-quarter profits and sales.
Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corp. KMB, +0.56% rose 1.7% Tuesday, after releasing secon-quarter results
Sherwin-Williams Co. SHW, +5.91% stock advanced 2.8% early Tuesday following an earnings announcement.
Shares of Snap Inc. SNAP, +2.90% were up 2.3%, after Stifel analyst John Egbert upgraded the stock from buy to hold, ahead of the social media company’s second-quarter earnings results, due after the close of trade Tuesday.
How are other markets trading?
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.76% climbed 2 basis points to 2.06%.
In Asia, stocks closed mostly higher, with China’s CSI 300 000300, +0.22% index rising 0.2%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.95% adding 1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index HSI, +0.34% climbing 0.3%. European stocks rallied 1%, according to the Stoxx Europe SXXP, +1.10%
Crude-oil prices CLU19, -0.05% were on the rise, up 0.1%, while gold prices GCQ19, -0.18% fell 0.2% to $1424 per ounce. The U.S. dollar rose 0.4% relative to a basket of its peers.
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