New York - US stocks were higher on Tuesday after the S&P 500's worst three-day drop since November 2011 as bullish investors hoped solid earnings would allay global growth concerns.
Citigroup, up 3.2 percent to $51.48 (R571), was the biggest boost to the benchmark S&P index after the bank posted better-than-expected quarterly results and said it would pull out of consumer banking in 11 markets.
But JPMorgan Chase shares lost 0.9 percent to $57.61, after the biggest US bank posted third-quarter earnings.
Wells Fargo, the fourth largest US bank, lost 1.5 percent to $49.43 after its results.
The S&P financial index gained 0.7 percent.
Johnson & Johnson shares dipped 0.9 percent to $98.29 even after the diversified healthcare company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on the back of strong sales for a new hepatitis C drug.
“I'm not sure the earnings have to be unbelievably strong but simply just reflecting some growth would help blunt the momentum of the market moving down,” said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“These upcoming weeks of earnings releases will move the market away from a broad-based up and down movement and have it more focused on specific names and specific industries.”
The benchmark S&P closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 16, 2012 on Monday.
It is now down 6.8 percent from its record closing high on September 18 on concerns global economic weakness could hurt US earnings and worries about the potential spread of Ebola.
S&P 500 companies are expected to show earnings growth of 6.4 percent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, with revenue growth expected at 4 percent.
After the close, Dow component and chipmaker Intel is set to post results.
At 9:53AM the Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.69 points, or 0.46 percent, to 16,395.76, the S&P 500 gained 10.15 points, or 0.54 percent, to 1,884.89 and the Nasdaq Composite added 28.85 points, or 0.68 percent, to 4,242.51.
The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 was Discovery Communications, which rose 3.7 percent, while the largest percentage decliner on each index was Gilead Sciences, down 3.2 percent.
Among the most active stocks on the NYSE were Bank of America, up 0.91 percent to $16.55; Advanced Micro Devices, down 1.09 percent to $2.71; and Wells Fargo.
On the Nasdaq, APPLE, up 0.1 percent to $99.90, and Facebook, off 0.3 percent to $72.75, were among the most actively traded.
Advancing issues were outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE by 2,104 to 750, for a 2.81-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,795 issues were rising and 583 falling for a 3.08-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 2 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 14 new highs and 58 new lows. - Reuters