Stocks rose on with the the Dow and S&P 500 finishing the week at their highest levels since December 2007.House Majority Leader said Friday that the House of Representatives will vote next week to authorize a three-month increase in the debt ceiling in order to give Congress time to pass a budget. China’s economy expanded 7.9% in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, beating expectations. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment fell to 71.3 in January from 72.9 in December. On the corporate front, General Electric climbed 3.5% after its earnings beat estimates. Morgan Stanley rose 7.9% after the co. reported earnings that narrowly beat expectations. Capital One and American Express fell 7.5% and 1.6% respectively after both firms reported weaker-than-expected earnings. Tech stocks posted losses, dragged down by sell-off in Intel, which dropped 6.3% after the co. reported a 27% decline in that quarterly profit from a year earlier and issued guidance slightly below already downbeat estimates. Amazon.com, Research In Motion and Netflix recorded gains after the recent upgrades. Caterpillar lost 1.5% in the evening trade after the co. announced it will take a charge of $0.87 a share in the fourth quarter because of accounting misconduct at a unit with operations in China. This week brings reports from tech heavyweights, including Apple, Google, IBM, Texas Instruments and Microsoft. Earnings for the IT sector are expected to drop 2.9% for the quarter. 3M Co. and Johnson & Johnson will be among other companies in focus with the release of their results.
