S&P 500 rises beyond 4,500 buoyed by upbeat earnings reports

• The S&P 500 Index advances beyond 4.500 on a five-day rally.
• Upbeat quarterly earnings have boosted risk appetite.

The main Wall Street indexes are trading higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 reaching levels past 4,500 following a five-day rally. The positive quarterly earnings reported by Johnson and Johnson and Travelers have revived investors’ optimism seen last week after the upbeat results in the financial sector, with concerns about high inflation and supply chain disruptions fading into the background.

Johnson and Johnson’s shares are 4.10% up today after the company reported a 10.7% year-on-year increase in sales in the third quarter. Travelers Companies’  shares are 2.51% buoyed by better than expected sales results.

Down to sectors, the biggest winners are the Energy and Healthcare, up 1.37% and 1.22% up respectively, with the Consumer Staples sector 0.41% down as the worst-performing sector today.

On the macroeconomic front, US homebuilding activity contracted unexpectedly in September, revealing that shortages in raw materials and labor are starting to squeeze the sector. Housing starts declined by 1.6% in September, while building permits contracted at a 7.7% pace, casting doubt over the possibility of an immediate recovery.

S&P 500 daily chart