NEW YORK, July 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks open higher on Monday, the last trading day of July, as this earning season has been strong so far.
Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the second quarter of 2017 are expected to rise 10.8 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 5.0 percent.
"More than half of the S&P 500 has now reported quarterly numbers. The beat rate is running at 72.3 percent for actual earnings per share versus expectations," said Stephen Guilfoyle, president of Sarge986 LLC, in a note.
Wall Street cheered on the strong earnings season, which has largely been supportive of stock markets in July.
U.S. equities notched record highs last week, but some analysts said the tech sector might continue to face pressure from profit-taking following upbeat earnings.
Tech giant Apple is schedule to report later this week.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 52.84 points, or 0.24 percent, to 21,883.15. The S&P 500 rose 4.18 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,476.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 17.21 points, or 0.27 percent, to 6,391.89.
U.S. stocks ended mixed for the last week as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings reports and the latest Federal Reserve announcement after its monetary policy meeting. Enditem
