NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in afternoon trading on Wall Street Tuesday as traders take in a heavy round of earnings reports from big U.S. companies.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1% as of 1:14 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 226 points, or 0.7%, to 31,724 and the Nasdaq rose 1.6%. Smaller company stocks outpaced the broader market. The Russell 2000 jumped 2.5%.
Bond yields fell significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which impacts mortgage rates, slipped to 4.10% from 4.23% late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tracks Federal Reserve action, fell to 4.46% from 4.50% late Monday.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 0.7%.
Investors are focused on the latest round of earnings reports from some big companies. General Motors rose 3.1% after delivering solid results. United Parcel Service rose 0.5% after the package delivery service beat Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. Paint maker Sherwin-Williams jumped 4.1% after also reporting solid financial results.
Packaging maker Crown Holdings fell 17.6% after its latest earnings fell short of estimates. Industrial conglomerate General Electric fell 1.3% after reporting weak third-quarter earnings.
Many other big names are on deck to report earnings throughout the week. Google's parent company reports its results later Tuesday, along with Microsoft and Visa. Boeing, Ford and Facebook's parent company will report results on Wednesday. Caterpillar, Apple and Amazon are among the big companies reporting results on Thursday.
Outside of earnings, barbecue grill maker Weber soared 30.4% after it said BDT Capital Partners is interested in buying the rest of the company. Adidas fell 2.5% after the German sportswear company ended its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over his offensive and antisemitic remarks.
The latest round of earnings reports are particularly important for investors looking for indications of inflation’s impact on various industries. Prices on everything from clothing to food remain at their highest levels in four decades, putting pressure on companies to raise prices and cut costs, while squeezing consumers.
The Federal Reserve and central banks around the world have been raising interest rates to tame inflation. That has investors concerned about the central bank going too far in trying to slow the economy and instead causing a recession.
The Fed is expected to raise interest rates another three-quarters of a percentage point at its upcoming meeting in November. Markets have been looking for any sign that the central bank is ready to ease up on rate increases. That includes data that the economy is slowing.
A measure of home prices released on Tuesday showed that the housing market continues to cool. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, which tracks prices in major cities, fell more than expected in August. The Fed’s aggressive interest rate increases have been making borrowing more expensive, in turn driving mortgage rates higher and crimping the broader housing market.
The U.S. economy is already slowing down and actually contracted during the first half the year. The government will release its third-quarter gross domestic product report on Thursday.
Elain Kurtenbach, Matt Ott and Joe McDonald contributed to this report.