Stocks rose slightly on Tuesday as Wall Street cheered stronger-than-expected quarterly profits from some of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points at the open, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq traded about 0.1% higher each. The Nasdaq 100, which includes the 100-largest companies in the composite index, hit a record high.
“Among the key companies that have reported, most of them have beaten expectations,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. “That means we’re probably going to escape an earnings recession. That will be key for the market to rally from here.”
Dow members Coca-Cola and United Technologies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Their shares rose 1.2% and 2.9%, respectively.
Twitter shares jumped 10% on its stronger-than-expected results. The social media company said its monthly active users totaled 330 million, more than a FactSet estimate of 318 million.
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey speaks during a press event at CES 2019 on January 9, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Defense giant Lockheed Martin also rallied more than 5% after its earnings easily topped expectations. The company reported strong operating margins across all its major businesses, which include aeronautics and missiles.
Procter & Gamble also posted stronger-than-forecast earnings, but its stock traded down 2.7%. Texas Instruments, eBay and Stryker are set to release their latest quarterly results after market close.
This is the busiest week of the corporate earnings season. Once the dust settles, more than 140 S&P 500 companies will have released their calendar first-quarter results.
So far, the results have largely topped expectations. More than 78% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported have surpassed analyst expectations, according to FactSet data.
Wall Street also kept an eye on oil prices as they hit their highest level this year amid intensifying concern about global supplies. It comes after the U.S. announced a further clampdown on Iran’s oil exports.
The world’s largest economy said Monday that from May 1, it would eliminate all waivers allowing eight economies to buy Iranian oil without facing U.S. sanctions.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $74.10 on Tuesday, up around 0.1%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $65.73, almost 0.3% higher.
On the data front, new home sales data is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. ET.
—CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
