US close: Stocks extend gains ahead of Powell speech, tech earnings

(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed higher on Tuesday as market participants digested more solid quarterly earnings reports.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.34% at 47,706.37, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.23% to 6,890.89, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.80% firmer at 23,872.49.

The Dow closed 161.78 points higher on Tuesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Tuesday marked the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, with markets widely expecting the central bank to make its second rate cut this year. Investors will also look for guidance from Fed chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday regarding a potential third cut in December, amid concerns over a weakening labour market.

The Federal Reserve will be operating under a partial economic data blackout due to the ongoing US government shutdown, heightening the importance of recent inflation and employment indicators.

In terms of Tuesday's earnings, PayPal surged on Tuesday as it upgraded full-year guidance and announced a payments wallet deal with OpenAI's ChatGPT, while United Parcel Service beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter earnings and revenue on Tuesday, and guided above consensus for the fourth quarter as it looked to offset softer B2B demand with price increases, and UnitedHealth beat earnings expectations, posting adjusted earnings per share of $2.92 against a consensus of $2.82.

After the close, Visa's Q4 revenues surpassed expectations, while Booking Holdings results also beat estimates on the back of steady travel demand.

Elsewhere in the corporate space, retail giant Amazon was reportedly preparing to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs this week in what would mark the largest round of layoffs in the company's history, according to multiple media reports.

On the macro front, US private sector employers added an average of 14,250 jobs per week over the four weeks ended 11 October, according to preliminary data released by ADP on Tuesday, marking a sharp reversal from September's negative print. ADP's latest reading implies monthly job growth of around 55,000, compared with a 32,000 decline reported in September's NER. However, the preliminary figure will be revised when the next NER is released.

On another note, US house prices rose 0.4% month-on-month in August, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or 2.3% on a year-on-year basis, while S&P Case-Shiller's national home price NSA posted a 1.5% annualised gain for August, down from 1.6% in July.

Still on data, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index inched down by one point in October to 94.6 from an upwardly revised 95.6 in September, with the present situation index ticking up 1.8 points to 129.3, offset somewhat by the expectations index, which declined by 2.9 points to 71.5. Expectations have been below 80, which typically signals a recession, since February 2025.

Finally, the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing index rose by 13 points month-on-month to -4 in October, contrasting with expectations of -14 to reflect the softest magnitude of pessimism in the Fifth District's factory activity since March.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $41.53 5.03%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $542.07 1.98%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $72.62 1.72%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $367.89 0.51%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $305.36 0.40%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $292.09 0.32%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $792.18 0.27%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.32 0.23%

Boeing Co. (BA) $223.58 0.15%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $70.16 0.14%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $186.84 -1.77%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $67.43 -1.69%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $25.41 -1.36%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $103.17 -1.24%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $306.49 -1.16%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $87.11 -1.10%

3M Co. (MMM) $166.73 -0.93%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $268.18 -0.82%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.31 -0.74%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.65 -0.61%

S&P 500 - Risers

Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) $10.60 15.36%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $654.48 11.82%

Msci Inc. (MSCI) $593.11 8.58%

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $96.36 8.00%

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $10.05 7.37%

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $14.96 7.17%

Western Union Co. (WU) $9.49 6.51%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $80.26 5.83%

Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $97.42 5.74%

Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $354.96 5.47%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE) $63.03 -19.17%

VF Corp. (VFC) $14.57 -12.22%

Everest Group (EG) $305.47 -11.36%

Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $292.95 -8.53%

F5 Inc. (FFIV) $267.58 -7.86%

Celanese Corp. (CE) $41.19 -6.02%

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $260.54 -5.79%

Healthpeak Properties, Inc (DOC) $18.02 -5.40%

Carnival Corp. (CCL) $27.87 -5.30%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $12.71 -5.22%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $654.48 11.82%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $203.56 6.18%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $80.26 5.83%

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $10.97 5.18%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $41.53 5.03%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $201.03 4.98%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $73.02 3.94%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $372.97 3.02%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $12.23 2.82%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $542.07 1.98%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

American Airlines Group (AAL) $12.71 -5.22%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $120.85 -3.66%

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $181.03 -3.54%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $223.00 -3.18%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $341.30 -2.87%

Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $5,120.57 -2.55%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $97.80 -2.54%

Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $60.21 -2.35%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $117.88 -2.15%

Fastenal Co. (FAST) $41.63 -2.14%