In the Dow Jones today, the Dow rebounded in grand fashion, after abruptly dropping 200 points yesterday. Stocks rose sharply after various strong earnings reports were released that lifted spirits on Wall Street, after one of the worst sell-offs in eight months occurred last week.
Dow Jones Today in Numbers
According to Yahoo Finance, the Dow is currently trading up 453.31 points (+1.80%) from its close yesterday. At the bell this morning, the Dow jumped over 200 points in value. The Nasdaq Composite is currently up 187 points (+2.52%), and the S&P 500 Index is up 52 points (1.90%).
Better-than-Expected Reports Push up the Dow
Healthcare and Financial companies led the market today after posting better-than-expected financial reports for Q3 2018. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) led the charge and is currently trading at $45.94 a share, up +$2.47 (+5.68%).
“In the first half of the year, we produced strong results across the franchise,” CEO James Gorman said in his bank’s earnings press release. “Despite the seasonal summer slowdown in the third quarter, we reported solid revenue and earnings growth demonstrating the stability of the franchise.”
>> Dow Jones Today: The Dow Ends a Rough Week in the Green
However, shares of Morgan Stanley are down more than -11% in 2018.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) also topped analysts’ forecasts, pushing up the Dow today. According to Yahoo Finance, GS is currently trading at $221.70, up +$6.48 (+3.01%). Year-to-date, Goldman Sachs is down over -13%.
Dow-members Johnson&Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and United Health (NYSE:UNH) also pushed up the stock index today by posting better-than-expected earnings in the healthcare field.
Looking Ahead
Kim Forrest, senior portfolio manager at Fort Pitt Capital, states that more companies should report stronger-than-expected earnings moving forward with 2018. “We were overly worried about the economy at the start of October,” Forrest said. “I think the bar has been set pretty low by sell-side analysts.”
Another Dow-member, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), is expected to release its quarterly earnings after the bell today. In its previous earnings report, the streaming giant fell sharply as its monthly subscriber growth was less than expected.
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