US STOCKS-Wall St ends sharply higher as earnings optimism fuels risk appetite

KLA

20/10/2025 21:00

Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hits all-time high

Apple shares hit record high

Boeing rises after FAA approves 737 MAX production raise

Updates to market close

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on Monday with finance and technology shares providing much of the upside muscle, as upbeat quarterly earnings results revived risk appetite and investors grew less fearful about regional bank credit quality.

A broad rally sent all three major U.S. stock indexes to a sharply higher close. The small cap Russell 2000 .RUT outperformed its larger counterparts.

"It's a good, solid, across-the-board move, there's not a lot of negative in the market," said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor & market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. "There’s some relief from the financials ... investors are looking at it as maybe a bit of an overreaction on the downside last week."

"As far as the market’s concerned, everything is wonderful again."

Apple stock AAPL.O touched a record high, while Meta META.O, Netflix NFLX.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O posted solid gains.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX breached an all-time high during the session.

Third quarter earnings season has shifted into high gear. Notable results this week include Tesla TSLA.O, Netflix NFLX.O, IBM IBM.N, Intel INTC.O, GM GM.N and Ford F.N, along with a spate of other high-profile industrial firms, including aerospace, transports and diversified manufacturers.

Upcoming U.S. regional bank results are expected to provide a closer read of the sector on the heels of last week's selloff, which was driven by fears of systemic credit stress.

Analysts currently expect third-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth, on aggregate, of 9.3% year-on-year, marking an improvement over their 8.8% growth estimate as of October 1.

"A lot of the uncertainty that the businesses were concerned about -- tax legislation, the tariffs -- earlier this year has subsided for the time being, and that's allowed companies to focus on earnings and profitability," said Matthew Keator, managing partner in the Keator Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Sentiment was given an extra boost by White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett, who said the federal government shutdown is likely to end this week.

With the federal shutdown entering day 20, investors and policymakers have had to feel their way forward amid the resulting data blackout. But on Friday the Labor Department will make an exception by releasing its September consumer price index (CPI), which will provide the data dependent U.S. Federal Reserve with a glimpse at the state of inflation and perhaps an indication regarding the extent to which President Donald Trump's tariffs are affecting price growth.

In the ongoing trade skirmish between Washington and Beijing, Trump suggested easing tariffs on China if Beijing resumes key agricultural purchases including soybeans. Trump blamed the latest showdown on China's rare earth export controls.

 According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 71.13 points, or 1.07%, to end at 6,735.02 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 310.57 points, or 1.37%, to 22,990.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 513.06 points, or 1.11%, to 46,704.50.

        Among other stock moves, Boeing BA.N advanced after the planemaker won approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to raise 737 MAX production to 42 planes per month.

WeightWatchers WW.O surged following the company's announcement that it would partner with Amazon for weight-loss drug delivery.

Philadelphia Semiconductor index vs the SPX https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-STOCKS/byprezobwve/sox.png

 (Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)

 ((stephen.culp@thomsonreuters.com))