U.S. Stocks Rise Amid Earnings Reports; Big Tech on Deck Later

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are rising amid a deluge of earnings reports from big companies, with big tech on tap to report after today’s closing bell.

At 10:17 ET (14:17 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 137 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 1.6%.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) reports later in the day will give investors more insight on the health of the tech sector, as rising interest rates have weighed on investor enthusiasm for growth stocks. Analysts are waiting to hear what Alphabet, the parent of Google, says about digital advertising trends, especially given a dire outlook from Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) last week.

Already on Tuesday, Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) have beaten expectations. Shares of Coke rose 0.6% and shares of GM rose 2.8%.

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) shares fell 0.9% after it cut its outlook for full-year revenue and profit, citing the effect of a strong U.S. dollar.

Stocks have been buoyed in the last two days by the hope the Federal Reserve will ease off its aggressive interest rate hikes after its meeting next week, when it is expected to raise its benchmark by another 0.75 percentage point. That would be the fourth such move in a row.

As companies navigate rising costs, inflation that is changing consumer spending habits, and other challenges, earnings season has still managed to exceed expectations. Nearly three quarters of the S&P 500 companies to report so far have beaten forecasts, according to Reuters.

Data on consumer confidence showed a dip from September, with an October reading of 102.5 versus expectations for 106.5. September's reading was 107.8.

Oil rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 1.4%, to $85.86 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was up 1.2%, to $92.31 a barrel. Gold Futures was up 0.5%, to $1662.