A volatile day on Wall Street finished with additional gains for equities on Wednesday, as investors cheered another round of positive earnings reports from US companies.
The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, adding to its strong gains from the day before when the benchmark index gained 2.8%, its best day in weeks.
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After rebounding from a mid-afternoon dip, the Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved a 0.2% gain. The Nasdaq composite increased by 1.6%.
With the current uptick, the main indices are on track for another good week of gains.
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Profit reporting season has begun, with more companies providing information on how rising inflation and concerns about a future recession are hurting their customers.
Stocks tumbled roughly 20% from their highs this year because of rising interest rates, and proof that profits can remain strong would provide a big support for markets. On the other hand, warnings about upcoming weakness could kick off another leg downward.
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For now, traders appear to be encouraged by what they’re hearing from companies, especially big banks, as the reporting season gets going.
Companies so far have been mostly topping profit expectations this reporting season, as is usually the case, though the most recent reports were mixed.
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Nasdaq, the company behind its namesake trading exchange, jumped 6.1% after delivering stronger profit and revenue than Wall Street expected. Omnicon Group, the advertising and public-relations company, rose 3.9% following better-than-expected earnings. Comerica, the Dallas-based financial services company, added 1.6% after it also reported stronger-than-expected results.
Netflix climbed 7.4% higher after it said it lost fewer subscribers during the spring than expected. It, though, remains the worst stock in the S&P 500 for the year, down by nearly two thirds.
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Beyond Netflix, several other tech-oriented companies made strong gains. Amazon climbed 3.9%, and Nvidia jumped 4.8%, which helped boost the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index.
On the losing end was Baker Hughes, which tumbled 8.3% after it reported weaker results for the spring than analysts expected. Northern Trust fell 4% after its profit fell short of forecasts.
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All told, the S&P 500 rose 23.21 points to 3,959.90. The Dow added 47.79 points to 31,874.84. The Nasdaq rose 184.50 points to 11,897.65.
Smaller company stocks also gained ground. The Russell 2000 rose 28.62 points, or 1.6%, at 1,827.95.
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In Europe, stocks slipped amid worries about whether Russia would restrict supplies of natural gas headed for the region after some maintenance on a key pipeline is scheduled to end Thursday. Germany’s DAX fell 0.2%, and French stocks dipped 0.3%.
The continent is also preparing for the first increase in interest rates by the European Central Bank in 11 years on Thursday, as it tries to beat back inflation.
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In the bond market, the yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to follow expectations for the Fed’s actions, edged up to 3.25% from 3.24% late Tuesday. The 10-year yield rose to 3.03% from 3.01% late Tuesday.