Investing.com– U.S. stocks edged higher Tuesday, as investors digested a deluge of quarterly earnings ahead of results from some of the country’s biggest technology firms later this week.
AT 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), rose 115 points, or 0.3%, gained 21 points, or 0.4%, and rose 93 points, or 0.6%.
Easing concerns over a broader conflict in the Middle East, following the lack of an immediate escalation between Israel and Iran after a series of strikes over the past two weeks, have helped investors gain confidence.
Tesla kicks off tech earnings parade
Attention now turns fully to the quarterly earnings season, with electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:) set report its quarterly earnings after the bell.
The EV maker is set for what analysts described as a “nightmare quarter,” after it clocked its first quarterly drop in deliveries in four years.
Including Tesla, four of the “Magnificent 7” stocks are set to report earnings this week. Facebook owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) will report earnings on Wednesday, followed by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) and Google-owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:) on Thursday.
Markets will be waiting to see whether the country’s biggest companies can justify a solid melt-up in their valuations through the first quarter.
Ahead of that, General Motors (NYSE:) stock rose over 4% after the auto giant raised its annual forecast after strong quarterly results, while GE Aerospace rose 3.8% after the aerospace giant raised its full-year profit forecast.
Spotify (NYSE:) gained 14% after the Swedish music streaming company beat estimates for premium subscribers, while Danaher (NYSE:) jumped 6.4% after the life sciences firm beat quarterly profit and sales expectations.
Novartis (NYSE:) stock rose 3% after the Swiss drugmaker raised its full-year guidance following the release of better-than-expected first-quarter results earlier Tuesday.
On the flipside, JetBlue (NASDAQ:) plunged over 10% as the low-cost airline trimmed its annual revenue forecast after reporting lukewarm first-quarter revenue, while PepsiCo (NASDAQ:) fell 2.4% after the soft drinks behemoth witnessed a slowdown in the United States..
“With only 70 or 14% of the firms in the S&P 500 index having reported [before today] it’s still too early to make any definitive statements about the season so far,” said analysts at Oppenheimer, in a note. “That said, earnings so far are up 9.4% from a year earlier on 4.5% revenue growth; and 80% of firms that have reported so far have beaten expectations.”
PCE inflation, Q1 GDP awaited this week
The economic data calendar Tuesday includes for March as well as both and PMI data from S&P Global for April.
However, the main focus will be on the data – the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge – on Friday, which is set to offer more cues on interest rates.
But before that, data is expected to show just how resilient U.S. economic growth remained in the first quarter of 2024.
Crude awaits next move out of Middle East
Crude prices traded marginally lower Tuesday, stabilizing after recent losses with the fluid situation in the volatile Middle East continuing to command attention.
By 09:35 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% lower to $81.60 a barrel, while the Brent contract traded 0.4% lower to $86.64 per barrel.
Crude prices slid to over three-week lows on Monday amid growing conviction that Iran and Israel will not enter an full-scale war, despite recent missile strikes by both sides. Fears of such a scenario had been a key driver of oil price gains in recent sessions.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
