US STOCKS-Wall Street rises on upbeat earnings, recovery optimism

  • 7/21/2021
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(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.) * Verizon rises on strong Q2 results * Coca-Cola up after raising revenue forecast * Cyclicals lead sectoral gains * Indexes up: Dow 0.78%, S&P 0.60%, Nasdaq 0.41% (Updates prices to open) July 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Wednesday as upbeat quarterly results from companies including Verizon and Coca-Cola reignited optimism about the health of corporate America. Coca-Cola Co rose 1.9% after boosting its full-year sales forecast, while Verizon Communications Inc added 1.1% after it beat estimates for quarterly results. “Everybody knows this is going to be the biggest year-over-year growth rate for earnings in the second quarter,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments. Wall Street ended sharply higher on Tuesday, rebounding from a multi-day losing streak, as a string of upbeat earnings reports and revived economic optimism fueled a risk-on rally. “There-is-no-alternative (TINA) and fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) are driving the market higher. Every time there’s a dip in the market, people think that’s the opportunity to put more money to work,” Martin said. Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors advanced in early trading, with economically sensitive industrials, materials , financials and energy leading gains. The rate-sensitive banking sub-index added 1.9%, tracking Treasury yields. Market participants are also closely watching the second-quarter earnings season to justify sky-high valuations at which the market trades right now. For the year so far, the benchmark S&P 500 index has gained 15.8% on optimism about a stronger recovery due to vaccinations and favorable monetary policy. United Airlines rose 4.2% after its revenue quadrupled from a year ago and topped estimates with a strong domestic travel rebound. Rivals American Airlines and Southwest Airlines added more than 3.5% each ahead of their results on Thursday. However, a weak subscriber growth projection by Netflix Inc , which benefited from the stay-at-home environment last year, pushed its shares down 3.6%. At 10:07 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 267.57 points, or 0.78%, at 34,779.56, the S&P 500 was up 25.89 points, or 0.60%, at 4,348.95 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 59.54 points, or 0.41%, at 14,558.42. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc gained 9.2% as brokerages raised their price targets on the burrito chain’s stock after it beat estimates for earnings and comparable quarterly sales. Interpublic Group of Companies jumped 13.4% to the top of the S&P 500 index after the advertising firm posted an upbeat second-quarter profit. Johnson & Johnson edged 0.1% after the drugmaker forecast upbeat 2021 earnings, while Harley-Davidson Inc fell 3.6% even as it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.88-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.20-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 31 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 31 new highs and 19 new lows. Reporting by Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

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