US: Stocks rise to open big earnings week

WALL Street stocks rose early Monday (Oct 20) as markets looked ahead to a heavy week of corporate earnings and monitored the positioning of political leaders on the US government shutdown.

This week’s earnings calendar includes results from Netflix, Tesla and Procter & Gamble. A Factset analysis of earnings forecasts and results projected third-quarter growth of 8.5 per cent.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 per cent at 46,405.31.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 6,712.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1 per cent to 22,900.45.

“Investors are optimistic that the next wave of earnings will come in stronger than expected from mainly big cap tech stocks,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

Markets are watching the back-and-forth in Washington as the government shutdown drags on. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC the Trump administration was considering “stronger measures” to pressure congressional Democrats to approve an extension of government spending.