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U.S. stocks post weekly gains amid earnings report

Xinhua, April 23, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks ended higher for the week after wavering between gains and losses, as investors digested the latest earning report as well as a batch of economic data from the country.

For the week, the blue-chip Dow rose 0.46 percent, and the broader S&P 500 gained 0.85 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.82 percent.

A slew of notable companies reported quarterly results during the week. Shares of Goldman Sachs tumbled over 4.5 percent around midday Tuesday, after it reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter results.

Bank of America posted quarterly net income of 4.9 billion dollars, and earnings per share of 41 cents, topping Wall Street expectations.

IBM announced after Monday's closing bell first-quarter 2017 diluted earnings from continuing operations of 1.85 per share, down 11 percent year-to-year.

Shares of General Electric ended the trading day Friday at 29.55 U.S. dollars per share, down 2.38 percent, even though the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results.

Visa also reported strong quarterly results on Friday and announced a five billion dollars share repurchase program. Shares of Visa ticked up 0.44 percent around midday but ended flat at 91.15 dollars on Friday.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the first quarter of 2017 are expected to rise 11.2 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 6.8 percent.

On the economic front, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,205,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. This is 6.8 percent below the revised February estimate, but is 9.2 percent above the March 2016 rate.

U.S. industrial production increased 0.5 percent in March after moving up 0.1 percent in February, in line with estimates, the Federal Reserve reported.

U.S. home resales rose more than expected in March to the highest level in more than a decade, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Friday.

Existing home sales climbed 4.4 percent for the month, while economists were expecting a smaller increase of 2.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.

Moreover, the first round of closely contested French presidential election votes will take place on Sunday and investors exercised caution ahead of it. Endit