Stocks close with gains on solid earnings reports
Specialist Wingszi Chiang, left, and trader Fred DeMarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, April 28, 2014. Stocks are mostly higher in early trading as traders hope for another blockbuster merger in the health care industry. Credit: AP / Richard Drew
The stock market closed higher Tuesday as more U.S. companies delivered solid quarterly results.
At the close on Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained nearly 9 points, about 0.5 percent, to close at 1,878.3. Banks and technology stocks rose the most. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up with a gain of 86.6 points, about 0.5 percent, at 16,535.4. The Nasdaq composite increased 29.1 points, about 0.7 percent, to 4,103.5.
Merck, Ameriprise Financial and the diesel engine maker Cummins were among the corporations reporting better-than-expected earnings.
Some companies posted results that disappointed investors. Coach slumped 9 percent after the luxury goods maker said its profit fell in the first three months of the year.
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