Stocks advance as earnings pick up; Dow notches 8th day of gains

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index rose modestly on Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow registering its eighth straight day of gains as investors gauged the latest round of corporate earnings, but a decline in Microsoft held the Nasdaq near the unchanged mark.

Bank stocks extended their rally, with the S&P 500 bank index advancing 1.70%, gaining for a third straight session and for the eighth time in the past nine.

Goldman Sachs rose 0.97% after reporting a 3-year low in profit but CEO David Solomon made upbeat comments about signs of a recovery in investment banking. That echoed comments from other big banks on Tuesday.

“Right now we are getting through the raft of companies that are smart and years ago had moved over to more reliable fee based income and that is what people are kind of working through their heads,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.

“Banks are giving you the tenor of what is happening in business.”

Citizens Financial jumped 6.39% and M&T Bank rose 2.48% after both beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit. US Bancorp reversed earlier losses to climb 6.46% higher as the Minneapolis-based lender posted a 28% jump in quarterly net interest income.

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