NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Monday as investors were awaiting a batch of corporate earnings reports.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 43.57 points, or 0.19 percent, to 22,915.29. The S&P 500 gained 3.29 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,556.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17.08 points, or 0.26 percent, to 6,622.88.
Earnings season kicked off last week with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America releasing their results. Netflix, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Verizon are among the companies set to report this week.
U.S. video streaming giant Netflix is expected to release its third-quarter earnings report on Monday after the closing bell. The company was estimated to post higher-than-expected subscriber gains.
Shares of Netflix inched down 0.08 percent around mid-session on Monday.
Meanwhile, traders were digesting the latest remarks from the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Yellen said on Sunday in an international banking seminar that "economic activity in the United States has been growing moderately so far this year, and the labor market has continued to strengthen."
Her comments suggested that the central bank will soon resume raising interest rates to reflect the strengthening economy, according to CNBC.
Last week, U.S. stocks posted moderate gains as investors digested the third-quarter earnings reports and the country's major economic data.
For the week, the blue-chip Dow rose 0.4 percent, and the broader S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.2 percent. Enditem
