The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq moved up between 0.5% and 0.8% Monday
morning. The Dow gained more than 100 points in early trading Monday. This was
followed by U.S. stocks finishing higher Friday following a strong jobs report in June.
U.S. markets opened higher Monday with
stocks pushing upward in anticipation of corporate earnings reports. Investors are
betting that positive earnings reports may help stocks continue the recent rally.
Second quarter earnings season kicks off with results from aluminum
producer Alcoa (AA) due after trading Monday. Alcoa is a first-look indicator of
how companies fared in the past quarter. Earnings results are due later in the week
from companies including Yum! Brands (YUM), JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).
Some analysts aren't as optimistic about the market and are
voicing concerns about the prospect of the Fed beginning to taper its bond
purchase program. Earnings are now starting to matter more now to the stock
market, as many investors and analysts expect the Fed to taper its bond buying
program in September. The bond purchase program has been the major catalyst for
a stock market rally this year with three indexes up between 14% and 16% in
2013.
European markets made
strong advances in afternoon trading, gaining between 1.3% and 2.3%. But Asian markets ended down. The Hang
Seng index
and the Nikkei both dropped by more than 1%. The Shanghai Composite index fell even further, down by 2.4%, on
continuing concerns about slowing growth in China.