By Medha Singh
Shares of Morgan Stanley rose 2.5 percent and Goldman Sachs 0.9 percent after the two lenders wrapped up earnings from the top six U.S. banks with better-than-expected quarterly profits, driven in part by higher equities trading revenue.
Their results drove a 0.12 percent gain in the financial sector.
UnitedHealth gained 3.3 percent and lifted the healthcare sector after the health insurer beat estimates for quarterly profit and boosted earnings forecast for the year as it added more members to its health plans.
Adobe climbed 7.6 percent, easing turbulence in the technology sector, after the software company reaffirmed its current-quarter forecast and provided 2019 targets that eased concerns over the impact of a recent acquisition.
The gains were broad-based with all of the 11 major S&P sectors trading in the positive territory. Technology sector's 1.2 percent rise and healthcare group's 1.3 percent led the advancers.
"A couple of inputs that caused a selloff in the last two weeks such as rising interest rates, higher oil prices and the dollar have calmed down to rational levels and the market may be able to positively respond to that as we work our way through the earnings season," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York.
"Real focus today is on Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Adobe from last night."
Strong quarterly earnings from some of the biggest U.S. companies would help soothe nerves of investors who have been fretting over the impact of tariffs, rising interest rates and wage growth among others on corporate profits that have weighed on U.S. stocks this month.
Still, earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to have risen 21.6 percent in the third quarter, a slowdown from the past two quarters, according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv.
At 9:47 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 181.03 points, or 0.72 percent, at 25,431.58, the S&P 500 was up 17.89 points, or 0.65 percent, at 2,768.68 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 70.95 points, or 0.95 percent, at 7,501.69.
Walmart swung between gains and losses after lowering its earnings forecast for the year and saying its e-commerce growth next year would be slower than the current fiscal year. The retailer's shares rose 0.9 percent.
Hogan said focus will certainly be on large-cap tech stocks, with reports coming from IBM and Netflix later in the day.
Netflix rose 0.4 percent ahead of its earnings report, expected after the bell. The video streaming company will be the first to issue results among the high-flying FAANG group of stocks, which were at the center of last week's selloff.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded six new highs and 26 new lows.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)