Investing.com – Wall Street closed higher Tuesday as tech rallied on a surge in Netflix and a rebound in JPMorgan underpinned financials.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.65%. The S&P 500 added 1.06%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.71%.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) rebounded from weakness early Tuesday following its fourth-quarter report, which missed consensus estimates on both the top and bottom lines as weaker fixed income revenue hurt performance.
The bank's shares closed about 0.7% higher, rebounding from a more-than-2% intraday drop, with some suggesting the weaker fixed income revenue was largely expected following the market rout in December.
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), however, struggled to claw back losses as mixed fourth-quarter earnings weighed. CEO Tim Sloan said he expected the Federal Reserve to maintain the asset cap at the bank – imposed in February as punishment for customer violations – through 2019, longer than initially had been expected. Shares were 1.6% lower.
Financials ended the day 0.8% higher.
Beyond earnings, tech drove the broader market higher, led by Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) after the streaming giant hiked up subscription prices for U.S. customers to $13 from $11 a month for its benchmark service.
"We believe this action [by Netflix] has a high probability of success, further fueling the Netflix flywheel," RBC said.
Among other FANG stocks, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) also ended the day better-than-2% higher.
Sentiment on stocks had been supported by a bullish handover from Asia overnight after China signaled more stimulus measures in the near term to support economic growth. The promise of fresh stimulus arrived just a day after an unexpected slip in China exports fueled worries over slowing global growth.
China's stimulus pledge helped ease worries that slowing growth in China, the world's second largest oil consumer, would dent global crude demand, pushing oil prices 3.2% higher, supporting a modest rise in energy names.
On the geopolitical front, UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal was voted down by a hefty margin, but this was largely expected, drawing a muted reaction in US stocks.
In economic news, a pair of reports showing weaker New York manufacturing growth and a fall in wholesale inflation last month, strengthened investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will rein in rate hikes this year.
In other corporate earnings news, United Continental (NASDAQ:UAL) shares surged in after-hours trading after it topped fourth quarter earnings and touted an upbeat outlook for 2019. Passenger revenue per available seat mile – a key measure of performance for airlines – also topped expectations, rising 5.8%.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW), and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NASDAQ:GT), Edison (NYSE:EIX) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.