U.S. stocks finished higher on Tuesday for the third straight session as the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged its highest close in six weeks.
A pullback in Treasury yields helped propel the major indexes higher, while stocks also benefited from the continued drumbeat of stronger-than-expected third-quarter corporate earnings.
What’s happening
- The Dow DJIA, +1.07% climbed 337.12 points, or 1.1%, to finish at 31,836.74, its highest closing level since Sept. 12, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
- The S&P 500 SPX, +1.63% advanced 61.77 points, or 1.6%, to close at 3,859.11.
- The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +15.79% gained 246.50 points, or 2.3%, to close at 11,199.12.
The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq have all climbed for five of the last seven trading sessions. The S&P 500 on Tuesday saw its highest close since Sept. 19.
What’s driving markets
Stocks continued to build on their recent gains Tuesday, with all three major indexes rising to notable new highs.
Investors were weighing results from Dow components Coca-Cola Co. KO, +2.40% and 3M Co. MMM, +0.10%, as well as General Electric Co. GE, -0.49%. After the close, earnings were rolling in from Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +1.91% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.38%.
Treasury yields are continuing to drive trading in stocks, with lower yields helping boost equity prices.
“We’re seeing yields come down for the first time in a while, so stocks are going up,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B.Reily Wealth.
The drop in yields is largely a factor of the Federal Reserve’s messaging about slowing the pace of interest rate hikes after its November meeting. Those expectations were sparked by a story published in The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 21 that said policy makers would debate the size of a December rate hike, while comments by San Francisco President Mary Daly on the same day called for the Fed to eventually slow down.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, 4.093% was down 15 basis points at 4.081% based on 3 p.m. figures, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Yields move inversely to prices.
From a technical standpoint, market strategists expect the rally in stocks may have more room to run now that the S&P 500 has surmounted strong resistance at the 3,800 level, clearing the way for the large-cap index to rise past 3,900, Hogan said.
Corporate earnings in the U.S. have continued to surpass analysts’ diminished expectations, adding another tailwind to equity valuations.
Companies are reporting earnings growth at 5.8% above expectations, compared with an average of 7% for the prior four quarters, according to Refinitiv data.
The broad-based rally in stocks sent 10 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors higher, with only energy stocks missing out as crude-oil prices lingered below $85 a barrel in the U.S.
It was a particularly notable day for REITs, as the S&P 500 real-estate sector rose 3.9%, leading stocks higher with its biggest daily advance since May 2020.
Meanwhile, house prices fell for a second straight month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city house-price index.
And in other economic data news, the Conference Board said its U.S. consumer confidence index fell to 102.5 in October from 107.8 a month earlier.
Companies in focus
- Coca-Cola shares rose 2.4% after the beverage giant beat third-quarter profit and revenue expectations, as price increases helped offset ongoing cost inflation.
- 3M Co. shares barely eked out a gain for the session after the company fell short of revenue estimates and cut its 2022 profit view on economic headwinds, although it delivered stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
- General Electric reported third-quarter profit that fell below expectations while revenue beat. Its free cash flow topped $1 billion to beat forecasts by a wide margin. Shares were down 0.5%.
- Adidas AG ADS, -3.20% ADDYY, -2.44% on Tuesday became the latest company to cut ties with the rapper Kanye West over anti-Semitic comments he’s made on social media. Adidas said it would terminate its relationship with West, who is now called Ye, immediately. American depositary receipts for Adidas fell 2.4%.
- Canopy Growth Corp.’s WEED, +25.71% U.S.-listed shares CGC, +27.07% rose 25% after the Canadian cannabis company announced a plan to consolidate its U.S. cannabis assets into a new holding company called Canopy USA.