Resurrected bull market faces earnings test this week

THE bull market's resurrection faces an earnings test this week.

US stocks rose last week, completing their strongest three-week run in more than two years as progress in talks between the US and China brought the bull market back from the dead.

On Dec 26, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was a hair's breadth from the 20 per cent peak-to-trough decline that defines a hip index, has risen by roughly 9 per cent. Measures of more US-focused small and mid-cap stocks have risen even more sharply.