U.S. Stocks Higher, Helped by Earnings and Other Corporate News

By? Riva Gold and Gunjan Banerji

U.S. stocks rose Monday, with corporate earnings and acquisitions driving some of the biggest moves in individual stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 edged higher to fresh records, while gains in health-care companies helped the Nasdaq Composite outperform its peers.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 32.21 points, 0.5%, to 6383.77. The Dow industrials rose 25.61 points, or 0.1%, to 22118.42, building on last week's gains following upbeat earnings and Friday's solid jobs report. The S&P 500 added 4.08 points, or 0.2%, to 2480.91, led by advances in consumer-staples companies.

Shares of Tyson Foods added $3.60, or 5.7%, to $66.90 after the company reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for the latest quarter. Hormel Foods rose 53 cents, or 1.6%, to 34.20. Kroger added 24 cents, or about 1%, to 24.37.

U.S. shares have enjoyed a bump in recent weeks as second-quarter reports have largely beaten expectations so far.

"Earnings are where the rubber meets the road. We're looking at some pretty good numbers year over year," said David Schiegoleit, a managing director at U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management. "Employment numbers on Friday gave a solid tone to the equity markets this week," he added.

Blue Apron Holdings and Snapchat-parent Snap-companies that were widely watched during their initial public offerings earlier this year-are scheduled to report earnings on Thursday. Major retailers including Macy's, Nordstrom, Kohl's and J.C. Penney are also due to release their quarterly reports later this week.

Shares of NxStage Medical jumped 6.53, or 28% to 29.67-one of the biggest gains in the Nasdaq Composite-after Fresenius's minority-owned kidney-dialysis business said it would acquire NxStage. Shares of Fresenius fell 1.9% in Europe.

Netflix shares rose 1.06, or 0.6%, to 181.33 after the company said it was buying comic-book producer Millarworld in its first acquisition.

The Dow's biggest decliner was United Technologies, which slipped as The Wall Street Journal reported it made an approach to acquire aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins, according to people familiar with the matter. United Technologies fell 2.97, or 2.4%, to 118.52.

Brighthouse Financial, MetLife's spun-off insurance operation, fell 2.85, or 4.4%, to 61.72 in its first day of trading.

European markets were subdued, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index slipping 0.1%, led lower by German shares. Data on Monday showed a surprising decline in German factory output in June, although the eurozone's largest economy remained on a path of solid growth.

The euro strengthened 0.2% against the dollar to $1.1793, adding to pressure on eurozone companies that repatriate earnings from overseas. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, rose less than 0.1% following its best day in a month on Friday, when the U.S. jobs report offered a fresh sign of strength in the labor market.

"For those of us who've been a little cautious on the economic outlook, this is certainly a data point in the opposite direction," said Ed Keon, portfolio manager at QMA. "I think this probably makes an increase in rates by the Fed in September or December more likely, and quite likely they'll go ahead with plans to slowly reduce their balance sheet."

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped to 2.258% Monday from 2.269% Friday. Yields move inversely to prices.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5%, its best day in 2½ weeks, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9%, with mining stocks adding to recent gains amid an advance in Chinese iron ore futures.

In Hong Kong, shares of Tencent Holdings jumped 3% to record highs, helping push the Hang Seng Index up 0.5% to its highest close since May 2015.

Write to Riva Goldat at riva.gold@wsj.comand and Gunjan Banerjiat at Gunjan.Banerji@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 07, 2017 17:41 ET (21:41 GMT)