By Karen Langley and Anna Isaac
U.S. stocks climbed Tuesday as investors cheered strong results
from banks and health-care companies at the unofficial start of the
third-quarter earnings season.
The outlook for profits had dimmed in recent months, with Wall
Street analysts lowering earnings expectations for all 11 sectors
of the S&P 500.
But UnitedHealth Group, Johnson & Johnson and JPMorgan Chase
-- all components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average -- kicked off
the reporting period with a shot of optimism. Goldman Sachs Group
shares also climbed, despite a mixed report.
Those four stocks contributed nearly 165 points to the blue-chip
index, which climbed 237.44 points, or 0.9%, to 27024.80. The
S&P 500 rose 29.53 points, or 1%, to 2995.68, led by the
health-care sector. The gains put both indexes less than 1.3% from
July's all-time highs.
The Nasdaq Composite added 100.06 points, or 1.2%, to
8148.71.
All three major indexes are now up for October after a shaky
start to the month.
The bank earnings contained evidence of the continuing
resilience of the consumer, said Elliott Savage, co-portfolio
manager of YCG Enhanced Fund.
"Today's data points slightly reduce the concern of an impending
recession, because of the strength of the consumer," he said.
As earnings season continues, investors will parse the reports
for signs of how U.S. business is holding up amid slowing global
growth and the long-simmering trade dispute with China. Among the
companies scheduled to report Wednesday are Bank of America,
Netflix, CSX and Alcoa.
Overall, analysts expect the companies in the S&P 500 to
report a 4.7% decline in profits for the quarter, according to
FactSet. That would mark the third consecutive quarter of lower
earnings -- the longest such streak since a period of softening
global growth from late 2015 to early 2016.
Shares of UnitedHealth Group rose $18, or 8.2%, to $238.59 after
the company posted third-quarter results that beat expectations and
raised its profit guidance for the year. That spurred a rally in
shares of other health insurers that had been battered by political
headwinds this year ahead of the 2020 election. Anthem, Cigna and
Centene climbed.
Also in the health-care space, Johnson & Johnson shares
added $2.12, or 1.6%, to $132.84 after the company raised its
financial forecast for the rest of 2019, despite grappling with a
heavy case load of litigation.
Elsewhere, JPMorgan Chase, the nation's largest bank by assets,
rose $3.51, or 3%, to $119.96 after the bank beat profit
expectations. The company continued to see strength in both its
consumer and investment-bank businesses. Net interest income rose,
despite the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in recent
months.
"That's a sigh of relief after a lot of consternation going into
the earnings season around banks in general," said Andy Braun, a
portfolio manager at Pax World Funds.
Goldman shares added 64 cents, or 0.3%, to $206.46, despite
reporting a lower profit that was dinged by its Wall Street
businesses.
As investors continue to look for fresh signs about the future
course of interest rates, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
President James Bullard said Tuesday in London that the U.S.
Federal Reserve could cut its key interest rate again to cushion
the economy against threats to growth. The U.S. economy is slowing
and faces a number of "downside risks" that could require a further
"insurance" move from policy makers, Mr. Bullard said.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury rose to 1.773%, from
1.748% Friday. The bond market was closed Monday for Columbus
Day.
Meanwhile, the British pound rallied Tuesday on speculation that
the U.K. and European Union may be close to finishing a draft
Brexit agreement. The pound climbed 1.4% against the U.S. dollar,
reaching its highest in about four months and putting it on course
to wipe out losses from earlier this year.
In Asia, Chinese stocks fell as fresh economic data added to
concerns about weaker growth prospects and the government's ability
to strike a trade agreement with the U.S.
The Shanghai Composite gauge dropped 0.6% as official data
showed inflation reached a near six-year high last month, driven by
rising pork prices. This comes amid signs of slowing growth and
trade tensions for the world's second-largest economy.
"China's not going to change its core economic policy to placate
Washington, be it on intellectual property or similar," said Rory
Green, an economist at investment research firm T.S. Lombard. "They
are accepting slower growth, they are not going to do a big credit
stimulus as we've seen in the past; markets are slowly realizing
that."
Write to Anna Isaac at anna.isaac@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 15, 2019 17:02 ET (21:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.