Forexpros – U.S. stock markets posted gains after the open on Tuesday, as a raft of better-than-expected earnings results buoyed investor sentiment, while easing worries over the debt crisis in the euro zone also helped risk appetite.
At the start of U.S trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.43%, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.53% while the Nasdaq Composite index gained 0.33%.
Market sentiment was boosted by growing expectations that the European Central Bank will soon take steps to help lower Spanish and Italian borrowing costs after ECB head Mario Draghi indicated last week that the bank may restart its bond buying program.
Investors were waiting to see if Spain would request assistance from the bloc’s bailout funds, which would allow the ECB to start buying Spanish government bonds.
Shares of natural gas producer Chesapeake soared 7.35% after the company reported record quarterly profits and increased the amount it plans to raise from asset sales this year to cover an impending funding shortfall.
The Oklahoma City-based company said second-quarter net income rose 91% to USD972 million, or USD1.29 cents a share, from USD510 million, or 68 cents over the same period last year.
Shares of internet communications company BroadSoft rallied 32.08% after the company raised its full-year earnings forecast for the second time since February.
Meanwhile, fashion-accessories retailer Fossil saw shares jump 27.88% after second quarter earnings rose 12% on the back of broad sales growth, but the stronger U.S. dollar dented sales figures slightly.
On the downside, shares in beverage maker Molson Coors Brewing were down 0.50% after second-quarter earnings slumped 53% on higher costs.
Elsewhere, shares of electronic retailer Best Buy were down 2.65% in early trade.
Shares in Best Buy rallied more than 18% on Monday, after founder and former chairman Richard Schulze said that he wants to take the company private by purchasing all the shares he doesn’t already own at USD24 to USD26 a share.
Across the Atlantic, European equities markets were also higher.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 was up 1.45%, France’s CAC 40 gained 1.12%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.59%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 inched up 0.03%.
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