The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher Tuesday, notching its longest winning streak in more than six years as traders weighed the latest earnings reports.
The Dow rose by roughly 26.83 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 35,438.07. This was the 12th positive session in a row for the 30-stock index and its longest rally since February 2017. The S&P 500 added 0.28 per cent to 4,567.46. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.61 per cent to 14,144.56.
General Motors shares fell about 3.5 per cent even after the automaker hiked its full-year earnings guidance. Meanwhile, General Electric climbed nearly 6.3 per cent on the back of stronger-than-expected revenue for the second quarter.
Elsewhere, UPS fell 1.9 per cent after it reached a tentative deal with the Teamsters union, avoiding a strike.
Meanwhile, Banc of California shares surged 11 per cent and PacWest Bancorp shares dropped 27 per cent. A report from The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said Banc of California is in advanced talks to buy PacWest.
Wall Street is digesting results from the busiest stretch of earnings so far, with major tech names Alphabet and Microsoft set to report after the close. Nearly 130 S&P 500 companies having reported second-quarter earnings thus far. Of those names, about 79 per cent have exceeded analyst expectations, FactSet data shows.
Investors are also awaiting the Federal Reserve’s policy decision Wednesday and will parse through Chair Jerome Powell’s comments for his economic outlook. Investors are overwhelmingly betting the Fed will raise rates by a quarter percentage point. However, they are less certain about what policymakers will do in September.
In commodity news, Britain issued a warning about potential Russian military targeting of civilian shipping in the Black Sea, while the European Union promised assistance for Ukraine's farm produce exports; amid this, global wheat prices surged 15 per cent, and oil maintained its recent gains due to tight supplies and optimism about China's economic boost, with West Texas Intermediate trading above US$79.
And amid a decline in copper prices leading some smaller companies to cut back on expenses, industry experts and analysts predict an increase in M&A in the copper sector as larger miners seek assets with longer mine life and high-quality ore to meet the demand for copper in the green energy transition.
Turning to US sectors, Materials was the best performer, whilst Real Estate was the worst.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.3 per cent gain.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:20 AM was buying 67.89 US cents.
Commodities
Gold added 0.21 per cent. Silver gained 1.09 per cent. Copper added 1.78 per cent. Oil gained 0.71 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE added 0.17 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.13 per cent, and Paris closed 0.16 per cent lower.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.06 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 4.10 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 2.13 per cent higher.
The Australian sharemarket closed 0.46 per cent higher at 7340.
Ex-dividends
Alternative Invest (ASX:AIQ) is paying 4.07 cents unfranked
Mayfield Group (ASX:MYG) is paying 1 cent fully franked
Dividends payable
Premier Investments (ASX:PMV)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
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