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Published 22 Jul, 2019 03:18pm

US stocks up as heavy earnings week kicks off

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose early Monday at the start of a heavy week of earnings that includes major technology and industrial companies.

This week's earnings calendar Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Boeing, McDonald's and American Airlines. This is the second of three weeks during which most of the S&P 500 report second-quarter results.

Last week's earnings reports, dominated by banks, were better than expected, said CFRA Research's Sam Stovall. Analysts have lifted their estimates for the second quarter but cut their outlook for the third quarter.

"Yet to be determined is whether the (earnings) recession has been postponed or cancelled," said Stovall.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than 0.1 percent at 27,159.04.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 2,982.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.5 percent to 8,183.89.

Among individual companies, Equifax climbed one percent after regulators announced a settlement over a data breach in which the company agreed to pay up to $700 million.

Regulators said Equifax failed to take basic steps to protect data. Equifax chief executive Mark Begor characterized the agreement as a "positive step" that lets the company move forward from the debacle.

Halliburton surged 5.4 percent despite reporting lower second-quarter profits as it described increased oil and gas activity.

"Momentum is building internationally and activity improvement should continue into 2020," said chief executive Jeff Miller. —AFP

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