NEW YORK — Some of Wall Street’s earnings anxiety is easing — at least for the time being.
The market had its second straight moderate advance Tuesday, rising after companies including U.S. Steel and American Express managed to post profits in a difficult recession. Financial stocks that were mostly higher also lent support to the market.
The major indexes briefly stumbled after the Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index in January slipped to its lowest level since the reading’s inception in 1967. The report indicated that consumers, who have already cut back drastically, are likely to remain reluctant to spend in the coming months. The index from the private research group slipped to 37.7 in January from a revised 38.6 in December.
But profit reports from U.S. Steel and American Express as well as chipmaker Texas Instruments and movie-rental company Netflix reassured investors that while the fourth quarter was generally terrible for companies, it wasn’t the disaster many had feared — some companies are still able to make money despite the worst recession in decades.
“Remember, things have been so ugly for so long now that it doesn’t take a lot to have a positive surprise,” said Jim King, chief investment officer at National Penn Investors Trust Co. in Reading, Pa.
He said some companies are putting up weak results, but the numbers can still look respectable when compared with a year earlier.
King said he expects the market’s gyrations will continue as investors react to the latest corporate earnings reports and forecasts.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 58.70, or 0.72 percent, to 8,174.73.
Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9.14, or 1.09 percent, to 845.71, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 15.44, or 1.04 percent, to 1,504.90.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 5.52, or 1.23 percent, to 455.58.
Thomas Nyheim, portfolio manager at Christiana Bank & Trust Co. in Greenville, Del., said investors are pleased to see earnings from companies outside the troubled banking industry. Their reports dominated the first weeks of the flood of corporate results. Now, a range of industries is turning in results.
“They’re poor, and all the guidance is poor, but at least they’re having an earnings number; at least they’re not missing by a wide margin,” he said.
Financial companies rose as Wall Street was relieved that the bulk of the industry’s quarterly reports is complete. The results were terrible, but traders mostly look past current news and place bets on what’s to come in the next three to nine months.
