Wall Street climbs as bond selloff eases, earnings lift mood

US stocks rose on Tuesday as a selloff in U.S. Treasuries eased, while upbeat forecasts from Verizon, Coca-Cola and others boosted optimism about corporate America’s health in the face of slowing economy and higher inflation.

Verizon climbed 6.9% after the U.S. wireless carrier raised its annual free cash flow forecast, while General Electric rose 5.0% after the aircraft engine manufacturer lifted its full-year profit forecast.

Coca-Cola advanced 2.6% on raising its annual sales outlook, while industrial goods maker 3M gained 3.9% after lifting its full-year adjusted profit forecast.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was last at 4.88%, after breaching the 5% mark in the previous session.

“Yesterday, Bill Ackman, head at Pershing Square, (who’s) been very bearish on U.S. bonds for a number of months closed that bearish position … he’s got a very good track record from a macro perspective of calling things well in the past,” said Dan Boardman-Weston, chief executive officer at BRI Wealth Management.

Rate-sensitive megacaps including Tesla, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com rose between 0.4% and 3.0%.

U.S. technology giants are expected to post their strongest quarterly revenue growth in at least a year as their legacy businesses have stabilized, with Microsoft and Alphabet scheduled to report results after markets close on Tuesday.

Of the 86 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 78% have topped analysts’ expectations, LSEG data showed. Overall, third-quarter earnings are expected to rise 1.2% year-on-year.

The benchmark index has fallen sharply from its July highs on worries the Federal Reserve could keep its monetary policy restrictive for longer than expected against the backdrop of a still-strong economy.

An S&P Global survey showed U.S. business output ticked higher in October as the manufacturing sector grew after contracting for five straight months while services activity accelerated modestly amid signs of easing inflationary pressures.

The turmoil in the Middle East is also in focus as Israel intensifies its assault on Hamas in Gaza.

At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 172.94 points, or 0.53%, at 33,109.35, the S&P 500 was up 21.76 points, or 0.52%, at 4,238.80, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 80.05 points, or 0.61%, at 13,098.38.

General Motors dipped 0.4% in volatile trading after it withdrew its 2023 profit outlook, blaming the rising costs of United Auto Workers’ strikes.

Shares of Coinbase, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital rose between 12.6% and 15.0% as Bitcoin jumped to a more than one-year high.

HCA Healthcare sank 8.6% after the hospital operator missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit as its physician-staffing joint venture missed internal growth targets.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.40-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and 16 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded four new highs and 110 new lows. – Reuters