U.S. stocks rally as investors eye earnings reports

New York (US), April 20: U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, snapping a two-day losing streak, as investors digested newly-released earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 499.51 points, or 1.45 percent, to 34,911.20. The S&P 500 rose 70.52 points, or 1.61 percent, to 4,462.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 287.30 points, or 2.15 percent, to 13,619.66.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer discretionary and real estate up 2.91 percent and 2.12 percent respectively, outpacing the rest. Energy slipped 0.96 percent, the lone declining group.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson advanced more than 3 percent after the drugmaker's quarterly profit exceeded market expectations and it raised its dividend payout.
Citizens Financial Group shares jumped 6.8 percent after it reported strong-than-expected quarterly earnings.
This week marks one of the busiest week in the U.S. quarterly earnings reporting season with an array of companies on deck to report.
Analysts expect profits from big U.S. companies to keep growing this year despite challenges such as high inflation.
"The U.S. first quarter earnings season, which continues this week, looks set to be positive, and we forecast earnings per share growth of 10 percent for 2022 overall and 7 percent for 2023," Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said Tuesday in a note.
Recently, U.S. equities have been under pressure, as market worries over the pace of the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening increased.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Monday that inflation was "far too high" and argued that interest rates could need to reach 3.5 percent by the end of the year. Futures are now pricing in a roughly 90 percent probability on a 50-basis point rate hike at the Fed's May meeting.
Source: Xinhua