U.S. Stocks Close Higher As Investors Bet On Earnings Hopes

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday as investors indulged in some strong buying at several counters ahead of earnings updates from several top ranked companies, shrugging off rising bond yields and concerns about the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Tesla, Netflix and Johnson & Johnson are among the companies scheduled to announce their quarterly results this week.

Investors also looked ahead to the release of reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and existing home sales in the comings days.

In U.S. economic news, the New York Federal Reserve released a report showing a downturn in regional manufacturing activity in the month of October.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions index fell to a negative 4.6 in October from a positive 1.9 in September, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in activity. Economists had expected the index to drop to a negative 7.0.

The major averages all ended on a firm note. The Dow ended higher by 314.25 points or 0.93 percent at 33,984.54. The S&P 500 advanced 45.85 points or 1.06 percent at 4,373.63, while the Nasdaq settled at 13,567.98, gaining 160.75 points or 1.2 percent.

Shares of Travelers Companies gained more than 2 percent. Nike rallied as well, gaining about 2%.

Strong third quarter earnings lifted Charles Schwab by nearly 5 percent. Alaska Air, Pfizer, AIG, Starbucks, Amazon, Metlife and United Airlines Holdings gained 2 to 3 percent.

Meta Platforms, Verizon, Illumina, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, Walt Disney and Intel also posted strong gains.

Moderna dropped more than 6 percent. Wallgreens Boots Alliance, Citigroup, Cenora and McKesson also declined sharply.

traders are also looking ahead to the release of reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and existing home sales in the comings days.

In U.S. economic news, the New York Federal Reserve released a report showing a downturn in regional manufacturing activity in the month of October.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions index fell to a negative 4.6 in October from a positive 1.9 in September, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in activity. Economists had expected the index to drop to a negative 7.0.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.0 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

The major European markets ended modestly higher despite seeing some weakness during the course of the session, as investors stayed largely cautious amid lingering concerns about the tensions in the Middle East, and worries about interest rates and inflation.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan said his country "has no interest" in occupying Gaza but will do "whatever is needed" to eliminate the Palestinian Hamas militant group which controls the densely populated coastal enclave.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.23 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.41 percent, Germany's DAX climbed 0.34 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.27 percent.