U.S. stocks trade higher after two-day sell-off

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday, rebounding from two-day sell-off as corporate earnings reports kept beating market expectations.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 112.67 points, or 0.43 percent, to 26,189.56. The S&P 500 increased 2.5 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,824.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 8.28 points, or 0.11 percent, to 7,410.85.

This earnings season has been positive so far. Of the S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Tuesday morning, 80 percent have posted better-than-expected earnings, while 81 percent have beaten top-line estimates, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares of Boeing surged 5.03 percent to trade at 354.62 U.S. dollar apiece after the company reported solid fourth-quarter results. The aerospace giant reported fourth-quarter revenue of 25.37 billion dollars, higher than expected 24.69 billion dollars.

On the economic front, private-sector employment increased by 234,000 from December to January, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the National Employment Report released by the ADP Research Institute Wednesday.

The ADP figure is widely seen as a pre-indicator for the non-farm payrolls report due on Friday. Enditem