Following the mixed performance seen in the previous session, the major U.S. stock indexes have moved to the upside during trading on Tuesday. With the upward move, the major averages have reached their best intraday levels in a month.
Currently, the major averages are hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 127.95 points or 0.4 percent at 35,386.56, the Nasdaq is up 55.96 points or 0.4 percent at 15,077.77 and the S&P 500 is up 21.28 points or 0.5 percent at 4,507.74.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to another batch of upbeat earnings news from big-name companies.
Insurance giant Travelers (TRV) has moved notably higher after reporting third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) have also moved to the upside after the healthcare giant reported better than expected quarterly earnings and raised its full-year guidance.
Meanwhile, consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) has moved lower, as concerns about rising costs overshadow the company’s strong quarterly results.
In U.S. economic news, A report released by the Commerce Department showed an unexpected decrease in new U.S. residential construction in the month of September.
The Commerce Department said housing starts fell by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.555 million in September from a revised rate of 1.580 million in August.
Economists had expected housing starts to inch up to a rate of 1.620 million from the 1.615 million originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed building permits plunged by 7.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.589 million from a revised rate of 1.721 million in August.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to drop to a rate of 1.680 million from the 1.728 million originally reported for the previous month.
Pharmaceutical stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index climbing by 1.2 percent.
Utilities stocks are also seeing notable strength, while airline, oil service and steel stocks have moved to the downside.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and China’s Shanghai Composite Index both climbed by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has fallen by 0.3 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing further downside after ending the previous session slightly lower. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.3 basis points at 1.617 percent.
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