Wall Street ends higher; bank stocks rise with Treasury yields

Feb 8 (Reuters) – Wall Street ended sharply higher on Tuesday, lifted by Apple and Microsoft, while a jump in Treasury yields elevated bank stocks ahead of a key inflation reading this week.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq reversed early losses and gained in the latter part of the session, with Amazon.com Inc gaining 2.2%, and Apple (AAPL.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) both rising over 1%.

The S&P 500 banking index (.SPXBK) rallied 1.9% after the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit its highest level since November 2019 on mounting expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will start tightening monetary policy.

Shares of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo all gained over 1%.

The S&P 500 energy sector index (.SPNY) sank 2.1% as investors worried the resumption of indirect talks between the United States and Iran could revive an international nuclear agreement and allow more oil exports from the OPEC producer. read more

Upbeat comments from French President Emmanuel Macron about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine crisis also dented oil prices and reduced anxiety on Wall Street, said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Charlotte-based wealth management firm Horizon Investments. read more

“Today’s gain is probably due to some of the Macron headlines, but it’s also just recognition of the fact that the economy is in pretty good shape, and we probably overdid it a little to the downside,” Ladner said.

With Tuesday’s rise, the S&P 500 remains down about 5% so far this year, while the Nasdaq has lost about 9%.

U.S. consumer prices data, set to be released on Thursday, is forecast at a four-decade high of 7.3%. The numbers follow strong U.S. labor data last week that added to investor concerns that the Fed will tighten rates faster than thought.

Concerns around aggressive policy tightening by the U.S. central bank, geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and mixed results from Big Tech have weighed on the major U.S. indexes since the start of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 1.06% to end at 35,462.78 points, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 0.84% to 4,521.52.

The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) climbed 1.28% to 14,194.46.

Earnings were mixed on Tuesday, with Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) down after the drugmaker’s full-year sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral pills fell short of estimates.

Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) surged nearly 8% after the company announced a buyback of up to $6 billion and forecast earnings would more than double by 2030. read more

Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (FB.O) fell 2.1% after billionaire investor Peter Thiel decided to step down from the company’s board, driving a fourth day of losses in the stock after its bleak forecast last week wiped out billions of dollars in market value. read more

Peloton Interactive Inc (PTON.O) soared 25%, despite slashing its revenue forecast as the exercise bike maker said it would replace its chief executive and cut jobs in a bid to revive sagging sales. read more

Coty Inc (COTY.N) jumped 8% after the cosmetics seller raised its earnings forecast for 2022. read more

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.58-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.71-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 60 new highs and 108 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.3 billion shares, compared with a 12.3 billion average over the last 20 trading days.

Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru and by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Maju Samuel and David Gregorio

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