Stocks Rally as Earnings Reports Flood In

Stocks rallied for a second straight day on Wall Street Tuesday, softening what's been a rough April.

• The S&P 500 rose 59.95 points, or 1.2%, to 5,070.55 to pull further out of the hole created by a six-day losing streak.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 263.71 points, or 0.7%, to 38,503.69.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 245.33 points, or 1.6%, to 15,696.64

A weaker-than-expected report on US business activity helped support the market, which remains in an awkward phase, the AP reports. The hope on Wall Street is for the economy to avoid a severe recession, but not to stay so hot that it keeps upward pressure on inflation.

A flood of earnings reports was also dictating much of trading. Danaher was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 after it reported stronger profit for the first quarter than analysts expected. It rose 7.2% after citing strength in its bioprocessing and molecular diagnostics businesses. Kimberly-Clark gained 5.5% after the maker of Huggies, Kleenex, and Kotex reported better-than-expected profit for the first quarter and raised its earnings forecast for the full year. General Motors revved up by 4.4% after topping forecasts thanks to sales of pickup trucks and other higher-profit vehicles. GE Aerospace soared 8.3% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They helped overshadow a 8.9% drop for Nucor after the steelmaker fell short of forecasts for both profit and revenue. MSCI, whose investment indexes guide much of the industry, fell 13.4% after reporting weaker revenue growth than expected. Sherwin Williams sank 2.3% after it likewise missed expectations, in part because of weaker paint sales for new homes amid the industry's challenges with high mortgage rates. JetBlue Airways lost 18.8% despite topping expectations for the latest quarter. Later Tuesday, Tesla will become the first of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks that accounted for most of last year's gains for the S&P 500 to report its first-quarter results.

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