Strong corporate earnings power rebound on Wall St
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose broadly on Friday, as a raft of strong corporate earnings helped allay concerns over growth risks in Europe and political tensions in Saudi Arabia that drove a 1 percent drop a day earlier.
Consumer goods bellwether Procter & Gamble (PG.N) reported a surprise rise in first-quarter sales, sending its shares up 7.2 percent and boosting the consumer staples .SPLRCS index, which led gains among the 11 major S&P sectors.
PayPal (PYPL.O) soared 9.4 percent after the payments company beat quarterly profit estimates as it signed up more customers and volume of payments processed rose.
“There have been macro concerns but results have been the biggest driver this week, and today is no different,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York.
At 9:53 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 190.64 points, or 0.75 percent, at 25,570.09, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 22.18 points, or 0.80 percent, at 2,790.96 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 81.84 points, or 1.09 percent, at 7,566.98.
In a volatile week for stocks, any gains for the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX on Friday would snap a three-week losing streak.
Wall Street has had a rough ride over the past fortnight, suffering one of its worst two-day losses since 2015 on concerns over rising interest rates, trade tariffs and their impact on global growth and demand for stocks.
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by the European Commission’s warning to Italy and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s decision to pull out of an investor conference in Saudi Arabia.
Friday’s rebound was also driven by a 1.6 percent gain in Apple (AAPL.O), after the company began taking pre-orders for its new iPhone XR and on Wedbush’s “outperform” rating.
Other members of the FAANG group also gained between 1.2 percent and 2.4 percent, lifting technology .SPLRCT and communication services .SPLRCR sectors.
Among gainers on strong results was Schlumberger (SLB.N), which rose 4.4 percent as its third-quarter profit increased on higher oilfield services demand.
Interpublic Group (IPG.N) jumped 6.5 percent after the advertising firm beat quarterly revenue estimates, benefiting from higher client spending worldwide.
Earnings growth for S&P 500 companies is expected to have increased 22 percent in the third quarter, according to Refinitiv data. Of the 69 companies that have reported earnings so far, 78.3 percent have beaten expectations.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.22-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and 18 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 68 new lows.
Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva
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