· Stocks rose slightly on Monday as Wall Street kicked off a big week of earnings. The moves also come as expectations of aggressive policy easing from the Federal Reserve dampen.



The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to close at 2,985.03 as the tech sector outperformed. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% to 8,204.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 17.70 points, or 0.1%, to 27,171.90 but a 1% drop in Boeing capped the index’s gains.



Boeing shares fell after Fitch downgraded its outlook on the airplane maker to negative. Tech shares rose 1%, led by chipmakers. Applied Materials, Micron Technology and Lam Research rose at least 3.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded them, noting that excess inventory for memory chip companies “will be depleted ” faster than expected.

· European stocks closed mixed Monday afternoon as investors digested a fresh batch of corporate results.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally flat, with sectors and bourses trading in opposite directions.



In corporate news, Dutch health technology company Philips surged to the top of the index after a stronger-than-anticipated 6% rise in comparable sales for the second quarter. The company cited robust demand for its hospital equipment in China and the U.S. during the three-month period. Shares jumped over 5% on the news.

· Stocks in Asia Pacific were edged up on Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street as the earnings season rolls on.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan added 0.62% in early trade, with shares of semiconductor equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron jumping 2.58%. The Topix index also rose 0.43%.

In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.23%, as shares of Hyundai Motor dropped about 3% after the company posted earnings that missed expectations, despite seeing its biggest quarterly profit jump in seven years.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.27%.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.04% higher.



Reference: CNBC