Nasdaq Drives Wall Street's Best Day In Weeks

The three main Wall Street benchmarks had their best days in over a month on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq closing up 2.2 percent, as investors responded to positive earnings and dovish comments from two US Federal Reserve officials on interest rate rises.

Johnson & Johnson advanced 3.1 percent to a second record close in three sessions, as the drugmaker's quarterly profit exceeded market expectations and it raised its dividend payout.

Of the first 49 companies in the S&P 500 index to report quarterly earnings, 79.6 percent have exceeded profit estimates, as per Refinitiv data.

"It certainly feels like every earnings season, especially since March 2020, is more important than the next, but particularly given where we sit in the economic cycle, the Fed's rate hike cycle, and the elevated inflation backdrop," said Max Grinacoff, equity derivatives strategist at BNP Paribas.

IBM gained 2.4 percent, before ticking up a further 1.8 percent following its latest numbers report after market close.

Meanwhile, Netflix Inc closed 3.2 percent up, before cratering 24 percent after the bell when it reported subscriber numbers had declined for the first time in a decade. The streaming company also forecast further losses in the second quarter.

St Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard on Monday repeated his case for increasing the rates to 3.5 percent by the end of the year to slow a 40-year-high inflation. He also said he did not rule out a 75 basis points rate hike.

Stocks appeared to brush aside the remarks, and the main indexes rallied further in late afternoon trading after both Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans and Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic offered more dovish comments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.45 percent, to 34,911, the S&P 500 gained 1.61 percent, to 4,462 and the Nasdaq added 2.15 percent, to 13,620.

The advances were the most by all three since March 16. (Reuters)