NEW YORK, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings reports as well as key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 197.65 points, or 0.79 percent, to 25,241.94. The S&P 500 was up 13.42 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,820.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index erased 1.10 points, or 0.01 percent, to 7,840.77.
Google parent company Alphabet reported stronger-than-forecast quarterly results on Monday after the closing bell. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of 11.75 U.S. dollars and revenue of 32.66 billion dollars, both topping Wall Street's estimates.
This earnings season has been great so far. Second quarter earnings are expected to increase 22 percent from the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters. Excluding the energy sector, the earnings growth estimate declines to 18.2 percent.
Of the 500 companies in the S&P 500 that had reported earnings by July 20, 83.9 percent reported earnings above analyst expectations. This was above the long-term average of 64 percent and above the prior four quarter average of 75 percent.
The second-quarter blended revenue growth estimate is 8.3 percent. Excluding the energy sector, the revenue growth estimate declines to 7.2 percent. And 73.6 percent of companies have reported revenue above analyst expectations.
This is above the long-term average of 60 percent and above the prior four quarter average of 72 percent.
On the economic front, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index posted 55.9 in July, down slightly from 56.2 in June and the lowest reading for three months. Nonetheless, the headline index remained well above the 50.0 no change threshold and signaled another robust expansion of overall private sector output. Enditem
