Stocks Have Smooth Ride On Tuesday

The major American stock indices had an easy day on Tuesday, after Monday’s traumatic, late-day sell-off. The flow of positive earnings reports continued as the vast majority of companies already reporting quarterly earnings beat analysts’ estimates. Nevertheless, after Tuesday’s closing bell a miss was reported by Priceline (PCLN).

Among the companies with good news on Tuesday were Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and Fossil (FOSL). MGM Resorts (MGM) beat its number, with a lower-than-expected loss, resulting in an 7.46 percent share price advance for the day.

At the closing bell, the Dow picked up 51 points to reach 13,168 for a gain of 0.31 percent. The S&P 500 achieved an identical 0.51 percent gain for the day, maintaining its flight level above 1,400 until the end of the session, closing at 1,401. The Nasdaq held a strong gain of 0.87 percent to finish at 3,015 and the Russell 2000 topped that with a 0.88 percent advance, finishing the day at 801.

In Europe, stocks did surprisingly well, despite a number of awful reports on industrial production in Europe. The Euro STOXX 50 Index finished Monday’s session with a huge, 1.71 percent gain. The FTSE 100 Index managed to achieve a 0.56% advance.

European ETFs did well on Tuesday, The iShares Germany Index picked up 0.58 percent. The iShares Spain Index gained a whopping 2.45 percent. The iShares Italy Index jumped 2.16 percent despite an Istat report that Italy’s second-quarter GDP declined 2.5 percent from the second quarter of 2011.

As of 5:22 EDT, the euro declined 0.02% against the dollar, trading at $1.2397.

Spain’s ten-year bond yield climbed as high as 6.84 percent on Tuesday from Monday’s closing level of 6.72 percent.

Italy’s ten-year bond yield climbed as high as 6.10 percent on Tuesday from Monday’s closing level of 6.03 percent.

On London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange, September futures for Brent Crude Oil advanced by $1.99 (1.84%) to $110.17/bbl.

August gold futures declined by $1.70 (0.11%) to $1,611.20 per ounce (GLD).

On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association will release its Mortgage Purchase Applications Index.

Bottom line: The major American stock indices continue to hold their gains as the vast majority of companies reporting earnings this quarter have beaten analysts’ expectations.

Disclaimer: Wall Street Sector Selector trades a wide variety of ETFs and positions can change at any time.