US stocks boosted by solid Wal-Mart, Cisco earnings

Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday, bouncing from recent weakness along with global equities following solid earnings from Wal-Mart Stores and Cisco Systems.

The gains followed two days of declines prompted by weakness in petroleum-linked shares and doubts about the prospects of President Donald Trump's tax cut plan in Washington.

Analysts said sentiment was lifted by expectations that the House of Representatives would approve a tax cut plan later in the day, although the proposal still faces obstacles in Washington.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 23,399.42, up 0.6 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.5 percent to 2,576.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.7 percent to 6,755.99.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare cautioned that investor conviction remains weak.

"The typical pattern of late has featured weak opens that then give way to a steady buy-the-dip bid that makes things look better by the close," O'Hare said.

"In that vein, then, we wouldn't put it past this fickle market to see a solid open today give way to selling on the strength that makes things look worse by the end of the day.'

Wal-Mart surged 6.6 percent after boosting its full-year profit forecast as US comparable stores rose 2.7 percent, propelled in part by higher sales in hurricane-affected regions.

Cisco, another Dow component, rose 2.2 percent after reporting that quarterly earnings rose 3.1 percent to $2.4 billion, besting analyst expectations.

Source: AFP