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Stocks climb on Wall Street as investors focus on earnings

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A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. Stocks were mostly higher in Asia on Tuesday after Wall Street rallied in its latest about-face in recent topsy-turvy trading. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

NEW YORK — Stocks rose on Wall Street, adding to weekly gains for major indexes that have been mired in a broad slump amid inflation and recession concerns. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq also rose. The gains tempered from an earlier jump that sent almost all of the stocks in the S&P 500 higher. It was the latest knee-jerk motion in a market that has been moving erratically in recent weeks. Many U.S. companies are reporting solid profits for the most recent quarter. Goldman Sachs led banks higher after reporting results that beat forecasts.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Stocks are rising again on Wall Street in afternoon trading Tuesday, adding to weekly gains for major indexes that have been mired in a broad slump amid inflation and recession concerns.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 3:27 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 230 points, or 0.8%, to 30,418 and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%.

The gains were broad, with most of the stocks in the S&P 500 in the green. The rally lost some of its momentum from earlier in the day, the latest knee-jerk motion in a market that has been moving erratically in recent weeks. Major indexes are still stuck in a bear market, which is when they've fallen at least 20% from their most recent all-time highs.

“High volatility is normal around the bottom of a bear market,” said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist for LPL Financial. “One reason we may be seeing markets hang in there a little bit better is that the narrative has switched to earnings from inflation and the Federal Reserve.”

Bond yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slipped to 3.99% from 4.01% late Monday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tends to track expectations for future Federal Reserve action, also fell to 4.44% from 4.45%.

The latest round of corporate earnings are a big focus for investors this week with little economic data expected. Investment bank Goldman Sachs rose 2.1% after delivering results that beat estimates, which helped lift shares in other lenders. Banks have been rallying since Friday, when several reported strong quarterly results.

Lockheed Martin jumped 8.2% after reporting strong third-quarter earnings. That gave other defense stocks a boost. General Dynamics rose 3.2%, Northrop Grumman gained 6.5% and Raytheon Technologies added 3.1%.

Streaming sports service FuboTV rose 2.1% after giving investors an encouraging third-quarter update.

Health care giant Johnson & Johnson slipped 0.4% after reporting solid financial result s, but a narrowed forecast as it deals with a strong U.S. dollar cutting into sales outside the U.S.

Streaming entertainment giant Netflix and United Airlines are on deck to report their results later Tuesday. American Airlines, Union Pacific and American Express will report their results later this week.

Corporate earnings are the latest pieces of information Wall Street can use to try and get a better sense of the economy's path ahead amid stubbornly hot inflation and growing recession fears. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates in an effort to make borrowing more difficult and slow economic growth. The goal is to hit the brakes on the economy just enough to tame inflation, but the strategy risks slowing the economy too much and causing a recession.

“You have to stomach some volatility in the near term, but inflation is coming down,” Buchbinder said. “Work by the Fed and the markets has really improved the inflation outlook from here, if you can look three to six months out.”

Inflation has been cooling in some areas of the economy, but remains stubbornly hot. That has prompted the Fed to remain on track with its plan to continue increasing rates. The central bank has already raised its benchmark interest rate five times this year, with the last three increases by three-quarters of a percentage point. Wall Street expects another raise of three-quarters of a percentage point at its next meeting in November.

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Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Damian J. Troise And Alex Veiga, The Associated Press


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