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 Monday's gain marked the S&P 500's fifth straight climb, its longest
winning streak since October. The S&P 500 wrapped up its best week
since July last week, boosted by results from such names as General
Electric Co <GE.N> and Morgan Stanley <MS.N>.
The Nasdaq also scored its fifth straight gain on Monday.
Of the 87 companies in the S&P 500 that had reported results through
Monday morning, 62.1 percent have topped earnings expectations,
according to Thomson Reuters data, compared with the 66 percent
average over the past four quarters. On the revenue side, 51.7
percent have exceeded forecasts, below the 54 percent average over
the past four quarters.
S&P 500 companies' first-quarter earnings are projected to have
increased 0.8 percent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters data showed.
The forecast is down sharply from the start of the year, when profit
growth was estimated at 6.5 percent.
"We are certainly in a wait-and-see mode for earnings, which can be
volatile, and therefore a lot of money is just waiting on the
sidelines to see what happens," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment
officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.
"Certainly, companies that confirm the rest of the year guidance,
even if they miss the first quarter, it's a good thing because there
is still a lot of expectation that we are going to see the economy
begin to accelerate and also do some catch-up from the
weather-impacted first quarter."
Volume was light, with about 4.34 billion shares traded on U.S.
exchanges, well below the 6.83 billion average so far this month,
according to data from BATS Global Markets. Some market participants
were away on Monday to observe Passover.
Halliburton Co <HAL.N> added 3.3 percent to close at $62.92 after
the oilfield services company reported earnings that beat
expectations and gave a strong profit outlook. The PHLX oil service
index <.OSX> rose 1 percent.
SunTrust Banks <STI.N> gained 1.5 percent to $38.51 after its
results. Toy maker Hasbro Inc <HAS.O> rose 1.9 percent to $55.66
after its earnings beat expectations, though revenue was under
forecasts.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 40.71 points or 0.25
percent, to end at 16,449.25. The S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 7.04 points
or 0.38 percent, to close at 1,871.89. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC>
added 26.03 points or 0.64 percent, to finish at 4,121.546.
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After the closing bell, Netflix Inc <NFLX.O> reported higher profit
for the quarter that ended in March, boosted by the addition of 2.25
million customers to its movie and TV streaming service in the
United States. The stock shot up 6.8 percent to $372 in
extended-hours trading. After a jump of 300 percent in 2013, Netflix
had slumped recently on concerns that the stock may be overvalued.
Dozens of S&P 500 components will report earnings this week,
including such closely watched companies as Apple Inc <AAPL.O>,
Biogen Idec <BIIB.O> and Facebook Inc <FB.O>. A number of Dow
components, including McDonald's Corp <MCD.N>, AT&T Inc <T.N>,
Procter & Gamble <PG.N> and Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N>, will also
report results.
More than 30 companies in the Nasdaq 100 <.NDX> are slated to report
earnings, according to Nasdaq. The Nasdaq 100 represents more than
half of the index's weight.
In company news, Britain's Sunday Times reported that Pfizer Inc <PFE.N>
had approached AstraZeneca <AZN.L> to propose a $101 billion
takeover, an offer that was rejected. However, Astra's cancer drug
pipeline is still considered a draw for Pfizer. Shares of Dow
component Pfizer rose 2 percent to $30.86 while U.S.-listed shares
of AstraZeneca <AZN.N> jumped 8.8 percent to $69.10.
Talks between Barrick Gold Corp <ABX.TO><ABX.N> and Newmont Mining
Corp <NEM.N> about a potential merger have hit a snag, but the
companies remain keen to reach a deal and discussions are likely to
resume, sources told Reuters.
Newmont's stock rose 6.4 percent to $25.05. It was the S&P 500's
biggest percentage gainer. Barrick Gold's U.S.-listed shares fell
3.9 percent to close at $17.28.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,889 to
1,159, while on the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners by 1,591 to
1,028.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Nick Zieminski and Jan
Paschal)
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