A gauge of global stocks surged for a ninth straight session on Wednesday, July 19, after a slew of corporate earnings reports in the United States and Europe, while the dollar bounced moderately off of 10-month lows.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit intraday record highs, picking up from strong performances by major European stock indexes.
After decent gains in Asia on the back of positive signs from global economic powerhouse China, MSCI’s world stocks index .MIWD00000PUS looked set for a ninth day of gains which would mark its longest winning streak since October 2015. The global index gained 0.33 percent, setting a record high for a fifth straight session.
“In the U.S., the earnings season seems to be surprising a little bit on the upside,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.
“What we have seen recently in the economic reports suggests it should be even better overseas … So we have come to the point where things looks pretty good in the U.S. and it looks even better in prospect overseas, so what’s not to like about equities.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 25.24 points, or 0.12 percent, to 21,599.97, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 6.44 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,467.05 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 28.45 points, or 0.45 percent, to 6,372.76.
Morgan Stanley (MS.N) shares climbed 2.4 pct after the bank’s profit report. Biotech Vertex (VRTX.O) soared 22.2 pct after stunning cystic fibrosis drug data.Not all was rosy in earnings season, as IBM (IBM.N) shares dropped 3.8 pct after its report.
About a week into the heart of second-quarter reporting season, S&P 500 earnings are now expected to rise 8.7 percent, up from an expectation of an 8-percent rise from the start of July, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.67 percent. Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML’s (ASML.AS) shares gained 6.2 pct after the firm’s quarterly report, boosting the region’s tech sector .SX8P.
“We would like to see those stronger earnings coming through and Europe really turning a corner,” said Dafydd Davies, partner at Charles Hanover Investments.
The dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies a day after the greenback’s sharp decline sparked by a fresh setback to President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.13 percent, with the euro EUR= down 0.24 percent to $1.1524.
Investors remained wary of pushing the U.S. currency lower before meetings this week with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. Market watchers will be looking to see if the recent strength of the euro and the yen influence their policy outlooks.
U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on light trading volume with benchmark yields hitting their lowest levels in nearly three weeks in advance of Thursday’s ECB meeting.
