WALL Street stocks finished higher on Monday, extending a rally from late last week ahead of a Federal Reserve decision and key earnings reports in the coming days.
A news-jammed week includes Wednesday’s Fed decision, where the central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged but will update investors on the prospects for cuts.
Investors will also digest April jobs data, as well as surveys measuring manufacturing sector health and consumer confidence.
“This week has something for everyone,” said a note from Charles Schwab.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.4 per cent to 38,386.09.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to 5,116.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4 per cent to 15,983.08.
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Apple, Coca-Cola and Pfizer are among the large companies reporting quarterly earnings.
Companies in the S&P 500 have thus reported an average of 3.5 per cent higher earnings compared with year-ago period, according to Factset.
Among individual companies, Tesla shot up nearly 15 per cent after receiving a key security clearance from the Chinese government for smart cars during a visit to China by chief executive Elon Musk.
Apple gained 2.7 per cent following an upgrade from equity analysts at Bernstein.
Domino’s Pizza jumped 5.6 per cent as it reported a 6.1 per cent increase in first-quarter sales to US$4.4 billion. AFP
