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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end slightly higher amid upbeat earnings

Xinhua, July 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index setting a closing record for the third straight session, as investors digested positive second- quarter earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 13.96 points, or 0.08 percent, to 18,100.41. The S&P 500 edged up 1.64 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,128.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 8.72 points, or 0.17 percent, to 5,218.86.

With no major economic reports due out on Monday, the market's attention centered on the quarterly results from big companies.

Morgan Stanley fell 0.40 percent to 40.04 dollars apiece after reporting slightly better-than-expected quarterly results. The bank posted a net income of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars on net revenues of 9.7 billion for the second quarter, compared with a net income of 1.9 billion on revenues of 8.6 billion a year ago.

Halliburton Co. gained 1.83 percent to 40.72 dollars apiece on Monday following the release of quarterly results that also beat Wall Street forecasts. The oilfield services provider announced that its income from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2015 was 380 million dollars, or 0.44 dollars per diluted share, excluding special items.

In other news, PayPal jumped 5.44 percent to 40.48 dollars apiece in its first day of trade on Monday. The Global online payment giant announced on Monday that it has completed its separation from eBay Inc. and is now an independent public company trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "PYPL".

Overseas, Greek banks reopened on Monday after a three-week holiday, introduced to avert a collapse of the country's banking system amidst fears of an imminent sovereign debt default and the so-called "Grexit" from the eurozone.

On the same day, the International Monetary Fund said Greece is no longer in arrears to the IMF after the country repayed the around 2.0 billion euro (or 2.17 billion U.S. dollars) it owed to the organization.

European shares finished higher following Greece news on Monday, with British benchmark FTSE 100 Index rising 0.20 percent.

In Asia, Chinese equities kept recovering on Monday as the China Securities Regulatory Commission dismissed rumors that it mulled pulling rescue funds used to stem heavy sell-offs after recent sharp declines. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index increased 0.88 percent. Endite