NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday in response to solid corporate earnings as investors bet on additional Federal Reserve monetary easing and that US-China trade tensions won’t significantly worsen.
Markets have cheered solid earnings from large banks and other companies this week. Dow member Salesforce surged 7.6 percent early Thursday after announcing it will target $60 billion in revenues in 2030, up from $36 billion last year.
About 35 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent at 46,317.91.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 6,688.68, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.6 percent to 22,777.96.
Wall St advances after strong bank earnings
CFRA Resarch’s Sam Stovall said markets do not expect the back-and-forth between Beijing and Washington to result in a “severe” trade war. The US government shutdown also is not seen as a severe drag.
“With the Fed likely to cut rates toward the end of this month, that is an additional shot in the arm for the economy and for investors in general,” said Stovall.
Among individual companies, United Airlines fell 1.9 percent after reporting a slight dip in profits on higher costs. But the carrier reported strong demand that it expects to result in a solidly profitable fourth quarter.
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