NEW YORK - The stock market logged its longest winning streak in six months Monday as another big week for company earnings began.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 7.04 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,871.89. The index has risen five straight days, its longest streak of gains since October. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 40.71 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,449.25. The Nasdaq composite gained 26.03 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,121.55.
“I like what I see in the market,” said Karyn Cavanaugh, a senior market strategist with ING U.S. Investment Management. “It’s all going to be about earnings, because earnings are the driver of the market in the long run.”
Halliburton, an oil and gas drilling company, rose after reporting a first quarter profit on rising revenue in the Middle East and Asia. Toymaker Hasbro gained after it said it returned to profitability in its first quarter, driven by sales of girls’ toys such as My Little Pony and Nerf Rebelle. Netflix gained post-close after the company said its earnings surged as it attracted more subscribers.
Close to a third of the companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index are scheduled to report first-quarter earnings this week, giving investors a better picture about the outlook for demand after the economy’s winter slump. Stocks logged their best weekly gain since July last week as companies started reporting their earnings.
Halliburton shares rose$2.02, or 3 percent, to $62.92 after the company turned a profit in the first quarter after a loss in the same period a year ago. Last year the company set aside money for litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Hasbro rose $1.05, or 1.9 percent, to $55.66 after its earnings came in higher than investors were expecting.
Stocks also got a lift from an encouraging economic report.
An index designed to predict future economic growth rose in March for the third month in a row, an encouraging sign after harsh winter weather slowed down the U.S. economy. The Conference Board said Monday that its index of leading indicators increased 0.8 percent in March after a 0.5 percent rise in February and a modest 0.2 percent gain in January.
“The data are suggesting that we will gain economic momentum,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial. “There is a sense, more and more, that the economy won’t run into another soft patch this year.”
McDonald’s, Delta Air Lines and Apple are among the 159 companies in the S&P 500 that are scheduled to report earnings this week. Together, the companies represent about a third of the value of the index.
S&P 500 companies are forecast to report an overall 1.1 percent decline in earnings for the period, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. If that forecast holds, it would mark the first decline in corporate earnings since the third quarter of 2009, when earnings fell 1.7 percent. About two-thirds of the companies that have reported earnings so far have exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Business, Pages 23 on 04/22/2014