U.S. Stocks Climb to Start a Busy Week of Earnings
22 October 2019 - 3:24AM
Dow Jones News
By Caitlin Ostroff and Karen Langley
U.S. stocks inched higher Monday to start a busy week of
corporate earnings, while investors continued to track developments
in the U.K.'s divorce from the European Union.
The S&P 500 ticked up 0.5%, with all sectors except health
care in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%,
and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%.
This is the busiest week of the quarter for corporate earnings,
and results so far have beaten analysts' expectations.
Shares of oil-field services company Halliburton added 6.9%
after reporting momentum in its international business and earnings
that were generally in line with estimates.
Among the companies scheduled to report later this week are
McDonald's, Caterpillar and Ford Motor.
Investors are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's
meeting later this month, when the central bank is expected to
lower interest rates again, after two recent rate cuts.
Investors have had other good news in recent days, including a
"phase one" trade deal between the U.S. and China that prevented
additional tariffs from taking effect.
"The pieces are falling into place for an upturn in global
growth," said Joe Quinlan, head of CIO Market Strategy for Merrill
and Bank of America Private Bank. "This is exactly what equities
are suggesting."
In other corporate news, shares in Boeing fell 3.7%--weighing on
the Dow -- after The Wall Street Journal reported that Congress is
ramping up scrutiny of the plane maker's leaders as new details
pointed to undue management pressure on employees.
Shares of drug companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and
McKesson fell, after the Journal reported the companies reached a
last-minute settlement, avoiding a trial seeking to blame them for
fueling the opioid crisis. AmerisourceBergen fell 4.1%, Cardinal
Health dropped 2.3% and McKesson lost 3.7%.
Cosmetics maker Coty shares rallied 15% after the company said
it would explore strategic alternatives for its professional beauty
business.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to 1.787% from
1.747% Friday. Bond yields rise as prices fall.
In the U.K., the British pound ticked up less than 0.1% against
the dollar after a critical vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's
Brexit deal was delayed. The U.K.'s FTSE 100, which includes many
companies with large overseas earnings that benefit from sterling's
decline, edged up 0.2%.
"We're going to have that kind of ebbing and flowing," said
David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets. "It's just going to be
hanging around to find out what's happening."
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.7%, led by
banks and the automotive sector.
Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2019 12:09 ET (16:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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