All 3 Major U.S. Index Are Less Than 1% From Their All Time High,



U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday on a five consecutive gains since late July for both the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite, with companies reporting solid third-quarter earnings despite supply-chain disruptions.

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 198.70 points, or 0.6%, to end at 35,457.31.
  • The S&P 500 SPX advanced 33.17 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 4,519.63.
  • The Nasdaq Composite COMP climbed 107.28 points, or 0.7%, closing at 15,129.09.

Equities rose as corporate earnings largely overshadow worries about supply-chain disruptions, though investors keep watching for signs that profit margins may be hurt by increased costs for transportation, energy and labor.

According to Bank of America, through the first week, 66% of companies beat Wall Street forecasts on both sales and earnings per share, which is well above the historical average of 47%.

The Q3 earnings season is highly important for investors, as inflation, labor, supply, and currency risks settle in. Analysts expect strong results as earnings reports so far indicate that many large U.S. companies have generated higher profitability thanks to sustained sales growth.

Results came in before market open from Dow components Procter & Gamble Co. PG, Johnson & Johnson JNJ and Travelers Cos. Inc. TRV, while streaming giant Netflix Inc. NFLX reported after the close.

Meanwhile, in U.S. economic data, construction on new homes has slowed amid supply-chain woes. U.S. home builders started construction on homes at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.56 million in September, a 1.6% decrease from the previous month, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The pace of permitting for new housing units also slowed in September, dropping 7.7% from August.

In a speech Tuesday on the U.S. economic outlook, Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said gross domestic product growth saw “a significant slowdown” in the third quarter as the delta variant of the coronavirus caused consumers and businesses to pull back. He said GDP “should rebound in the first half of 2022.”


  1. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 2.3% after the drugmaker said it brought in $502 million in worldwide sales of its COVID-19 vaccine in the third quarter of 2021.
  2. Shares of Procter & Gamble fell 1.2% after the consumer packaged goods company reported fiscal first-quarter profit that fell versus last year, but topped forecasts for earnings and sales while maintaining its full-year guidance.
  3. Travelers Cos. Inc. delivered results that beat estimates. Shares of the insurer increased 1.6%.
  4. Apple Inc. AAPL shares rose 1.5%, a day after unveiling new Mac personal computers featuring the company’s custom chips and an upgraded set of AirPods to fill out its holiday lineup.
  5. Shares of Tesla Inc. TSLA slipped 0.7% Tuesday, the day before it is slated to report third-quarter results. The stock had rallied 10.8% over the past six sessions, closing Monday at its highest price since Feb. 2, and just 1.5% below the Jan. 26 record close of $883.09.
  6. Philip Morris International Inc. PM shares declined 1.7% after the cigarette and tobacco company reported third-quarter profit and revenue that rose above expectations as overall shipment volume increased. 

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, fell 0.2%.

Oil futures finished higher, with the U.S. benchmark climbing 0.6% to settle at $82.96 a barrel. Gold futures ended higher, rising 0.3% to settle at $1,770.50 an ounce.