US close: Stocks end first day of February trading in the green
Wall Street stocks closed higher on the first day of February trading as market participants digested a number of data points and corporate updates.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.78% at 35,405.24, while the S&P 500 was 0.69% firmer at 4,546.54 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.75% stronger at 14,346.00.
The Dow closed 273.38 points higher on Monday after wrapping a rollercoaster month on a positive note in the previous session.
Tuesday's primary focus was earnings from some of the nation's largest firms, both during the session and after the close, as well as a few key data points published throughout the morning.
On the macro front, IHS Markit's final January manufacturing PMI came in at 55.5, ahead of preliminary estimates for a reading of 55.0 but down from December's print of 57.7 as firms expanded their workforce numbers at the slowest pace in the last 18 months.
Elsewhere, the Institute for Supply Management's January manufacturing PMI registered a reading of 57.6%, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points from the seasonally adjusted December reading of 58.8% but still indicating expansion in the overall economy for the 20th month in a row.
Still on data, construction spending hit $1.639bn in December, up 9% year-on-year and 0.2% above the revised November estimate of $1.636bn, according to the Census Bureau.
Finally, the number of job openings in the US increased a little at the end of 2021, even as hiring and voluntary separations dipped. According to the Department of Labor, job openings grew at a month-on-month pace of about 1.4% to reach 10.77m. Hiring on the other hand decreased by 5.0% in comparison to January to approximately 6.26m and voluntary separations or so-called 'quits' declined by 3.6% to about 5.9m.
In the corporate space, Stanley, Black & Decker posted full-year organic revenue growth and adjusted diluted earnings per share expansion of 30% on Tuesday, leading the firm to issue 2022 guidance ahead of estimates, while Exxon's fourth-quarter profits topped estimates amid soaring oil and gas prices.
Tesla shares were in the red after the electric carmaker revealed it was recalling roughly 53,000 vehicles with its self-driving software in the US, while UPS shares advanced more than 14% after the shipping company beat earnings estimates and hiked its quarterly dividend by 49%.
AT&T revealed it will shed its stake in WarnerMedia following a planned merger of the division with Discovery.
After the close, Alphabet posted a huge fourth-quarter beat and announced a 20-for-1 stock split, Electronic Arts third-quarter revenues missed estimates, AMD unveiled an earnings better and issued some strong guidance and Starbucks posted mixed results as increased costs and Covid-19 pay weighed on profits.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury increased slightly to 1.794%.