US stocks rise on housing report, corporate earnings

File photo shows a sign for Wall Street on the side of building near the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. US stocks Tuesday, July 22, 2014, finished higher following a busy day of corporate earnings and a report showing the highest level of existing-home sales in eight months. AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN,

NEW YORK–US stocks Tuesday finished higher following a busy day of corporate earnings and a report showing the highest level of existing-home sales in eight months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.81 points (0.36 percent) to 17,113.54.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 9.90 (0.50 percent) to 1,983.53, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 31.31 (0.71 percent) to 4,456.02.

A flood of earnings reports produced some mixed results, but analysts said the overall picture was positive.

A note from Wells Fargo Advisors said the results to date, accounting for 17 percent of the S&P 500 companies, were “heartening.”

Brent Schutte, market strategist at BMO Global Asset Management, said earnings were “pretty solid” on the whole.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said sales of US existing homes in June rose 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 5.04 million in June, the highest pace since October 2013.

Lockheed Martin gained 3.0 percent as it raised its 2014 profit forecast after beating analyst expectations in the second quarter. The defense contractor now projects earnings per share of $10.85-$11.15, up from $10.50-$10.80 previously.

Chipotle Mexican Grill shot up 11.8 percent as net income in the second quarter rose more than 25 percent to $110.3 million. The company said it opened 45 new restaurants in the quarter.

But Dow member McDonald’s fell 1.3 percent as it reported second-quarter earnings of $1.40 per share, four cents below expectations. The fast-food giant pointed to lower comparable sales in the US and Europe.

Coca-Cola reported a three percent decline in net profit to $2.6 billion for the second quarter as volumes rose eight percent in Asia-Pacific but were flat in North America, Europe and Latin America. Shares fell 2.9 percent.

Other companies to report financial results included Altria (-0.2 percent), DuPont (-0.9 percent), Netflix (-4.6 percent), Texas Instruments (-0.1 percent), Travelers (-3.8 percent), United Technologies (-1.9 percent) and Verizon (+0.6 percent).

In non-earnings news, Herbalife, a nutritional products marketer, vaulted 25.5 percent higher following a presentation criticizing the company by activist investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management. The market’s reaction showed Ackman is “losing face” in his long-standing charge that the company is a pyramid scheme, said 24/7 Wall St.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.47 percent, the same level as Monday, while the 30-year fell to 3.25 percent from 3.26 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.