Solid Earnings Drive US Stocks Higher  10/26 09:07

   Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as company earnings reports get 
into high gear, pushing major indexes further into record heights. 

   (AP) -- Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as company earnings reports 
get into high gear, pushing major indexes further into record heights. The S&P 
500 was up 0.4% in the early going Tuesday. Big technology companies were doing 
much of the heavy lifting, and that helped send the Nasdaq up 0.6%. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2%. UPS jumped 7.7% in the early going after 
the package delivery service reported results that easily beat analysts' 
forecasts. Microsoft and Google's parent company will report their own results 
after the closing bell. European markets were higher and Asian markets closed 
mixed.

   Global shares were mostly higher Tuesday after another rally to a record 
high on Wall Street.

   France's CAC 40 added 0.8% in early trading to 6,765.92, while Germany's DAX 
edged up 1.0% to 15,759.82. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.7% to 7,270.40. U.S. 
shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.3% at 35,723.00. S&P 500 
futures were up 0.4% at 4,576.25.

   Stocks have been pushing broadly higher as companies turn in much stronger 
profit reports for the summer than analysts had expected. Historically low 
interest rates, along with strong corporate profit growth, have helped the S&P 
500 more than double from the bottom it set in March 2020 in the early days of 
the coronavirus pandemic.

   Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.8% to finish at 29,106.01. The advance 
was helped by a 2.6% jump in electronics and entertainment Sony Corp., which is 
reporting earnings later this week. Sony, which has video game and movie 
divisions, has seen sales rise as people opted for stay-home entertainment 
during the pandemic.

   Other big gainers included Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, which jumped 5.4% 
after it upgraded its earnings outlook.

   "Sentiments in Asia may largely mirror the stellar performance in Wall 
Street overnight, while the COVID-19 situation in China remains on watch with 
control measures being tightened," said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG 
in Singapore.

   China has reimposed travel restrictions in some areas to combat outbreaks of 
the virus that are adding to concerns over a slowing economy.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.4% to 26,038.27. The Shanghai Composite 
declined 0.3% to 3,597.64.

   South Korea's Kospi gained 0.9% to 3,049.08 after the government reported 
the economy grew at an annual pace of 4%, according to government data. That 
was slightly weaker than expected. But analysts expect consumer spending to 
recover as virus cases ease with progress in the country's vaccine rollout.

   Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost earlier gains to be little changed, inching up 
less than 0.1% to 7,443.40.

   Several of the U.S. market's most influential stocks are set to report 
earnings this week, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google's parent 
company, Alphabet. Because they're the four biggest companies on Wall Street by 
market value, their stock movements have a huge effect on the S&P 500.

   In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 45 cents to $83.31 a barrel in 
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It ended Monday trading 
unchanged at $83.76 per barrel. Brent crude, the basis for international 
pricing, fell 38 cents to $85.61 a barrel.

   In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 114.02 Japanese yen from 113.71 
yen. The euro cost $1.1610, inching down from $1.1611.