S&P 500 flirts with record high on upbeat earnings

The S&P 500 was within striking distance of its all-time high on Tuesday as better-than-expected results from Twitter and a host of industrial companies eased concerns about slowing corporate profits.

The benchmark was just 0.4% away from an intra-day record high of 2,490.91 hit on Sept. 21. The index breached its record closing high of 2,930.75.

Twitter Inc shares surged 16.6%, touching a near nine-month high, after the social media company posted a better-than-expected quarterly revenue and a surprise rise in monthly active users.

Another big gainer was Lockheed Martin Corp, whose shares jumped 6.5% after it reported upbeat quarterly results and lifted its full-year profit forecast on strong demand for its missiles and fighter jets.

Amazon.com Inc, set to report results later this week, gained 1.8%, providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

Profits at S&P 500 companies are expected to decline 1.3% in the first quarter, in what analysts say could be the first earnings contraction since 2016. However, forecasts have largely improved since the start of April.

"There has been concern about a synchronized global slowdown in some of these more cyclical companies, like industrials, so we`re seeing some earnings which is soothing concerns," said Jeff Zipper managing director of Investments at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Palm Beach, Florida.

"With a lowered bar coming into this earnings, we`re seeing some decent earnings and that is helping keep markets where it is."

At 11:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 123.27 points, or 0.46%, at 26,634.32, the S&P 500 was up 20.88 points, or 0.72%, at 2,928.85 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 81.49 points, or 1.02%, at 8,096.75.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with a rebound in healthcare stocks, which gained 1.6%, providing the biggest boost.

Coca-Cola Co rose 1.9% after its quarterly sales beat estimates, helped by strong demand for low-sugar Coke Zero, new orange-vanilla cola and flavored waters.

Boosting the tech stocks, Qualcomm Inc jumped 5.1% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the chipmaker to "overweight" from "equal-weight".

Aerospace supplier United Technologies Corp rose 2.4% after it raised full-year profit forecasts.

Among decliners, Procter & Gamble Co fell 2.5% after its quarterly EBIT margin missed estimates, despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.

Verizon Communications Inc dropped 2.2% after the U.S. wireless carrier lost more phone subscribers than analysts had expected.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.68-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.48-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 60 new highs and 34 new lows.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)