US stocks lifted by strong results from Netflix, others

Wall Street stocks pushed solidly higher early Tuesday following a round of strong earnings from Netflix, Goldman Sachs and others.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 24,796.73, up 0.9 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 2,696.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.0 percent to 7,224.87.

Investors have been eyeing the first-quarter earnings season as a potential catalyst for stocks amid lingering worries the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates too quickly and that President Donald Trump’s crackdown on Chinese trade actions could lead to a trade war.

But the strong earnings Tuesday helped investors overlook those fears, despite a fresh report late Monday that the Trump administration is examining new actions in response to China’s restrictions on US technology companies.

“A few weeks ago, that type of headline would have forced a downdraft in the futures market, but that hasn’t happened today,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

Netflix surged 6.5 percent after announcing it added 7.4 million new subscribers in the past quarter as net income grew 63 percent to $290 million.

Goldman Sachs climbed 0.5 percent after reporting a 26.6 percent rise in first-quarter earnings to $2.7 billion following a solid performance in several key investment and trading divisions.

Sentiment was also boosted by US data showing construction of apartment buildings surged in March, overwhelming a big drop in work started on single-family homes.