Stocks closed higher as Wall Street waits to hear from some of its most influential companies, and whether their huge rally this year was justified. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Tuesday to its highest level in more than 15 months. The Dow added 26 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.6%. General Electric jumped 6.3% after reporting stronger profit for the spring than expected, helping to offset losses for airline stocks, the AP reports. The day's headliners come after trading ends, when Alphabet and Microsoft report their results for April through June.
Another industrial giant, 3M, rose 5.3% after the maker of Scotch-Brite and Post-It raised its forecast for profits for the full year thanks in part to cost cutting efforts. Home builder PulteGroup climbed 6.2% after reporting stronger profit for the spring than expected. On the losing side of Wall Street were airline stocks, led by Alaska Air Group. It fell 9.7% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. Analysts said investors may have been disappointed with its financial forecasts for the current quarter.
Raytheon Technologies tumbled 10.2% after it said accelerated removals and inspections are needed for some of its Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines to look for a rare condition in powder metal. That pushed it to lower its forecast for how much cash it will generate this year, though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. This week is a busy one for earnings reports, and roughly 30% of the companies in the S&P 500 are on the schedule. This week's other highlight for Wall Street also got underway Tuesday: the Federal Reserve's latest meeting on interest rates. The wide expectation is for the Fed on Wednesday to announce another increase to interest rates as it tries to get high inflation under control. (More stock market stories.)
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