US markets end higher on Tuesday

26 Jul 2023 Evaluate

Magnifying last session’s gains, the US markets ended higher on Tuesday. The higher close on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies. The uptick by the Dow came amid a strong gain by shares of 3M (MMM), which spiked by 5.3 percent after the industrial conglomerate reported better than expected second quarter results and raised its full-year profit forecast. Chemical giant Dow Inc. (DOW) also jumped by 1.8 percent after reporting second quarter results that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Shares of General Electric (GE) also soared by 6.3 percent after the industrial giant reported better than expected second quarter earnings and boosted its full-year profit guidance. Besides, traders also remained optimistic about the Federal Reserve wrapping up its recent series of interest rate hikes ahead of Wednesday's monetary policy decision.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, but traders are hopeful the rate hike will be the last following recent encouraging inflation data. On the economic data front, the Conference Board released a report showing U.S. consumer confidence improved by much more than expected in the month of July. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 117.0 in July from an upwardly revised 110.1 in June. Street had expected the index to climb to 111.8 from the 109.7 originally reported for the previous month. With the much bigger than expected surge, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since July 2021. On the sectoral front, Steel stocks extended the rally seen on Monday amid optimism about additional Chinese stimulus, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index spiking by 3.3 percent to a new four-month closing high.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 26.83 points or 0.08 percent to 35,438.07, Nasdaq rose 85.69 points or 0.61 percent to 14,144.56 and S&P 500 was up by 12.82 points or 0.28 percent to 4,567.46.


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