Stocks moved higher for a second day on Wednesday, continuing to recover from a sharp drop at the beginning of the week. Investors turned their attention to company earnings, which have started to roll in steadily as earnings season ramps up.
The S&P 500 index was up 0.6% as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4%. Despite Monday’s steep drop, all three indexes are now positive for the week.
What’s pushing stocks higher the last two days has been better-than-expected results from big corporations. Dow component Coca-Cola was up 2% after the company raised its full-year forecast and reported better-than-expected results. Fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill jumped nearly 9% after the company also reported much better than expected results after the closing bell Tuesday.
Johnson & Johnson shares were up 0.5% after the company reported a 73% rise in profits, thanks to strong sales growth across all of its businesses, particularly its medical device and diagnostics division.
Not all earnings were positive. Netflix fell 2.6% after reporting its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years.
Earnings season will kick into high gear next week, when more than 100 members of the S&P 500 will report their quarter results.
Bond yields were recovering from their sharp fall earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 1.27%, up from 1.21% the day before. The 10-year note’s yield had fallen into the teens on Monday on concerns that the delta variant of the coronavirus might impact economic growth globally.
