US stocks have moved higher amid mixed earnings reports, bouncing back after last week’s losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 19.66 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 14,567.17.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 7.25 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,562.50.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 27.50 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 3,233.55.
Some analysts said stocks were poised to rally after the major indexes last week lost more than two per cent amid mediocre corporate earnings.
Monday’s gains came despite a 0.6 per cent drop in US existing home sales from February to March; at the same time, the national median price jumped $US11,100 ($A10,850) from the prior month.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar added 2.8 per cent despite reporting earnings 45.4 per cent lower than the year-earlier period and slashing its profit forecast on a weak outlook for the global mining sector.
Oil services giant Halliburton added 5.6 per cent after reporting better-than-expected revenues and profits, though setting aside some $US637 million for costs related to the BP-Deepwater Horizon spill meant it turned in a net loss for the quarter of $US18 million.
Microsoft jumped 3.7 per cent after activist hedge fund ValueAct said it took a $US2 billion stake in the technology giant.
Power-One, which manufactures power supply products for renewable energy and telecommunications systems, was up 56.7 per cent after announcing it was being acquired by Swiss energy giant ABB for $US1 billion.
General Electric, which retreated on Friday on disappointing earnings, slipped 1.8 per cent after JPMorgan Chase downgraded the company.
IBM, another earnings laggard, slipped 1.1 per cent.
Netflix gained 6.7 per cent in anticipation of quarterly earnings, and the shares gained another 19.1 per cent in after-hours trade once the company reported it added more than three million subscribers to its streaming service.
Markets were also gearing up for Apple’s earnings report on Tuesday. The technology giant, which fell more than nine per cent last week, jumped 2.1 per cent.
Bond prices were unchanged. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held flat at 1.70 per cent, the same level as Friday. The 30-year Treasury also remained at 2.88 per cent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.
