Goldman Profit Beat, Easing Rate-hike Bets Drive Wall St Higher

U.S. stock indexes rose on Monday after Goldman Sachs beat profit expectations, extending last week's positive momentum amid easing bets of a super-sized interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow rose over 200 points in early trading, picking up from Friday when U.S. economic data showed stronger-than-expected retail sales, an uptick in consumer sentiment and lower inflation expectations.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc gained 4.2% as it reported a smaller-than-expected 48% slump in second-quarter profit, helped by strength in its fixed-income trading. The investment banking giant's results follow upbeat quarterly results from Citigroup Inc on Friday.

The S&P 500 banks index added 0.9% on Monday, with Bank of America Corp reversing earlier declines to rise 1.3%, even as it posted a nearly 34% drop in second-quarter profit.

"You're getting the feeling that perhaps all the bad news is out of the way and investors are looking to see if this would be a reasonable entry point," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.

At 10:07 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 210.11 points, or 0.67%, at 31,498.37, the S&P 500 was up 30.14 points, or 0.78%, at 3,893.30, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 147.30 points, or 1.29%, at 11,599.72.

The S&P 500 technology sector index rose 1%, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp rising 5%.

Several U.S. semiconductor firms are deliberating whether to oppose a package of chip industry subsidies if the final language of the legislation, awaiting a vote on Tuesday in the Senate, disproportionately benefits manufacturers such as Intel Corp, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Among other shares, Boeing Co jumped 3.3% after Delta Air Lines Inc said it will buy 100 MAX 10 jets worth about $13.5 billion at list prices and has options to buy another 30 at the Farnborough air show. Shares of Delta jumped 4.7%.

With the earnings season in full swing, analysts now expect aggregate year-on-year S&P 500 second-quarter profit growth of 5.6%, down from the 6.8% estimate at the beginning of the quarter, according to Refinitiv data.

The S&P 500 energy sector index jumped 3.1% as crude prices rose by more than $4. [O/R]

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 4.10-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 3.33-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and 30 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and 23 new lows.