US: Stocks bounce as financials gain

[NEW YORK] Large banks were among the gainers early Wednesday as US stocks rallied from a pullback in the prior session.

Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley were each up more than one per cent ahead of a Federal Reserve announcement of the final stress test results which also is expected to allow large banks to boost dividends and stock repurchases.

US stocks dropped Tuesday as high-flying technology equities slumped and Senate Republicans postponed a vote on President Donald Trump's health care reform, throwing further uncertainty onto his agenda.

But about 15 minutes into trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 21,410.81, up 0.5 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 also was up 0.5 per cent to 2,430.63, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 per cent to 6,164.66.

Monsanto climbed 0.9 per cent after announcing third-quarter net income rose 17.6 per cent to US$843 million.

Cheerios maker General Mills gained 2.8 per cent as it reported an 11 per cent increase in fourth-quarter net profit to US$409 million, but projected organic net sales would fall one to two per cent in 2018.

KB Home advanced 2.2 per cent after reporting second-quarter net income almost doubled to US$31.8 million, and offering a positive outlook on the prospect for homebuilding due to tight housing supply in key markets.

AFP