Trader John Santiago works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. Stocks are moving modestly higher on Wall Street in early trading Tuesday as corporate earnings reporting gets into full swing. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Health care and technology companies led a broad rally for stocks on Wall Street Tuesday as investors welcomed another batch of encouraging company earnings reports.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, driving the benchmark index to its fifth straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.7%.
Among the tech sector winners were Apple, which rose 1.5%, and software maker Adobe, which added 2.1%. Johnson and Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, rose 2.3% after raising its profit forecast for the year following the release of strong third-quarter earnings.
“Were starting to get more earnings in for the third quarter, and so far so good,” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “So far, the results are coming in and we haven’t had a material downgrade in outlooks.”
The S&P 500 rose 33.17 points to 4,519.63. The index is now within 0.4% of the all-time high it set Sept. 2. The Dow gained 198.70 points to 34,457.31. The Nasdaq rose 107.28 points to 15,129.09.
Small company stocks also rose. The Russell 2000 index gained 8.07 points, or 0.4%, to 2,275.91.
The broad gains for stocks follow a mixed start to the week as investors continue monitoring corporate earnings for clues as to how companies will move forward through the year as they deal with rising inflation, global supply chain delays and the economic recovery slowing down.
“There was a nervousness going in as we started to see some supply chain interruptions,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. “But, the overall picture is still a fairly positive one.”
Those supply chain problems are going to have different impacts on companies and industries, he said, including how they absorb the costs and whether they raise prices. Procter & Gamble fell 1.2% after saying it will raise prices as it faces higher commodity and freight costs.
So far, however, rising oil prices and other costs haven't cut in severely on company profit margins, Hainlin said.
All told, analysts polled by FactSet are now forecasting earnings growth of 30% for the S&P 500, up from 23% in June.
The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF offers a potentially easier way for some investors to get into the fast-growing crypto world, though it invests in futures contracts for Bitcoin rather than the currency itself. The price of Bitcoin rose 4.5%, according to CoinDesk. Its running about 1.2% below its all-time high of $64,888.99 per coin.
Bond yields moved higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.64% from 1.58% late Monday.
Energy stocks gained ground as oil prices rose 0.6%. Exxon Mobil rose 1.5%. U.S. crude oil prices are up 73% for the year, while natural gas prices have risen roughly 81%. The prices have surged as the global economic recovery drives demand and it is raising concerns about a global energy crunch.
Insurance company Travelers rose 1.6% after it handily beat Wall Street's third-quarter profit forecasts. Other large companies, including streaming entertainment giant Netflix and United Airlines, will report their results after the market closes.
Several key earnings from airlines this week will also give investors a clearer picture into the impact from a surge in COVID-19 cases over the summer. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines will report their results on Thursday.
Outside of earnings, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. home construction fell 1.6% in September as builders continue to be tripped up by supply chain bottlenecks. Shares of homebuilders were weaker. Beazer Homes fell 2.7% and Hovnanian Enterprises fell 3%.
Commercial and residential buildings account for 13% of carbon emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA, and one company says it has a solution. Runwise says it has updated the boiler and heating systems of thousands of buildings, and that its technology not only lowers carbon output but also saves landlords money. Lee Hoffman, Co-Founder and COO of Runwise, joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Kirsten Jordan, real estate broker and star of 'Million Dollar Listing New York,' joins Cheddar News to talk about the state of New York City real estate, tips for homebuyers, and season 9 of the Bravo show.
Following sales tech startup Scratchpad raising $33 million in Series B Funding, CEO and co-founder Pouyan Salehi joined Cheddar to discuss how his company's software works to help salespeople with an all-in-one workspace, integrating with Salesforce to optimize notes, spreadsheets, and other relevant information so businesses can forecast and make the best decisions. "If you look at other crafts like artists, they'll have studios; chefs, they'll have kitchens; scientists will have labs, and we just asked, well, if you look at sales as a craft, why doesn't something exist that is designed solely for a salesperson?" Salehi said about his workspace app.
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics inches closer, sponsors are facing mounting pressure to pull out of the games with China is under fire for controversies like the alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority population and the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai. Rick Burton, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, joined Cheddar to discuss what he expects to happen once the games begin. Burton said China is too large of a market for American advertisers to ignore, and he doesn't expect any of them to pull out of the games. "Olympic sponsors right now I think are really just trying to hang on and get through these 17 days, come out the other end," he said.
Google could be gearing up to release its own wearable device as rumors swirl about a potential smartwatch with the Pixel brand. Jon Prosser, the creator of Front Page Tech, who tweeted a possible leak about the product, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to discuss potential the benefits of it entering the same space as the Apple Watch. Prosser said, while he doesn't expect it to launch until at least 2023, the Pixel Watch will be "one of the most vital, most important wearables that we can have on the market," noting that it won't likely challenge Apple for much market share but will set the standard for other Android wearables to come.
The Federal Reserve released its highly-anticipated research weighing the pros and cons of a digital dollar in the U.S. The report comes as economic rivals like china have already piloted their own central bank digital currencies. Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst, The Americas, Oanda, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Tax season is now underway, and it's going to be a bit different than in years past. For starters, the deadline is April 18, instead of the typical April 15th, and many Americans will need to account for advance child tax credit payments, the return of the recovery rebate credit, and a special break for charitable contributions, among other things. Brent Weiss, Co-Founder and certified financial planner at Facet Wealth, tells us what we need to know about filing our taxes this year, and when we can expect to receive our returns.
American semiconductor company, Intel officially announcing plans to build a new $20 billion chip manufacturing complex outside Columbus, Ohio. This comes as the global chip shortage continues to hamper production of everything from smart phones, to cars. Jennifer Smith - Logistics and Supply Chain Reporter, WSJ joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
