U.S. stocks rally on upbeat earnings

U.S. stocks traded higher in the morning session on Monday, as Wall Street cheered better-than-expected corporate earnings.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.58 points, or 0.14 percent, to 18,543.13. The S&P 500 was up 4.71 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,166.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 31.20 points, or 0.62 percent, to 5,060.78.

Bank of America on Monday reported quarterly net income of 4.2 billion U.S. dollars, or 36 cents per diluted share, beating analysts' estimates. Revenues for the giant commercial bank came in at 20.6 billion dollars. Its shares jumped 2.82 percent to 14.02 U.S. dollars apiece around midday.

Tons of the biggest U.S. companies will report quarterly results this week.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the second quarter of 2016 are expected to decrease 4.5 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to decline 0.8 percent.

U.S. stocks posted solid gains for the last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 refreshing their record highs for several times, as concern about a global economic slowdown in a post-Brexit environment receded amid an array of generally upbeat economic reports.

On a weekly basis, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq going up 2.0 percent, 1.5 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Enditem