US: Strong earnings boost Dow, S&P 500

[NEW YORK] The Dow and S&P 500 500 rose Wednesday following a trove of mostly good earnings that outweighed rising anxiety over trade wars.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3 per cent to finish the session at 25,199.36.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.2 per cent to 2,815.62, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined by a hair to 7,854.44 after closing at a fresh record on Tuesday.

Most large banks reported better-than-expected results, outweighing a few earnings disappointments, including from Netflix. Major technology and industrial firms will report in the coming days.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a congressional panel that US businesses already are being hurt by tariffs on key products, a prominent theme also in a Fed report on economic conditions around the country.

But analysts said earnings are the big story right now.

"The market focus has shifted to earnings, and so far earnings have been stronger than expected and guidance has also been positive," said Adam Sarhan, founder of 50 Park Investments.

"In the near term, that is enough to help the market look at the bigger picture and dismiss some of the negative headlines."

Morgan Stanley capped off a strong earnings period for large banks, rising 2.8 per cent as it reported a 39 per cent jump in second-quarter earnings to US$2.4 billion.

United Continental shot up 8.8 per cent as it boosted its full-year earnings forecast to a range of US$7.25 to US$8.75 per share from the prior range of US$7.00 to US$8.50. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines also won solid gains.

Google-parent Alphabet dipped 0.2 per cent as the European Union fined the company 4.3 billion euros (S$6.83 billion) for antitrust abuses with its Android operating system. Google said it would appeal the penalty.

AFP