(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* JPMorgan, Citi, Wells Fargo to report results this week
* Albertsons gains after raising annual sales, profit
forecasts
* Indexes up: Dow 0.04%, S&P 0.06%, Nasdaq 0.21%
(Updates to market open; adds comment)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Jan 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was subdued on Tuesday with
investors holding off big bets ahead of the earnings season that
is expected to throw light on the health of Corporate America
and the economy.
General Motors Co GM.N jumped 4% after Chief Executive
Mary Barra outlined plans for its first BrightDrop electric
commercial vans to be delivered to FedEx FD.N by year-end.
High-flying shares of Tesla Inc TSLA.O added another 3%.
Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading higher with
energy stocks .SPNY rising more than 3%, tracking higher crude
prices. O/R
Rate-sensitive banks .SPXBK climbed 1.2% as benchmark U.S.
Treasury yields reached their highest levels since March. US/
Hopes of a big boost to public spending and speedy rollout
of vaccines under a Democratic-led U.S. Congress have pushed
Wall Street to record highs, with growth-linked financial,
industrial and energy stocks lifting the market higher.
"On an average, markets look 3-6 months into the future
about what environment we are likely to be dealing with,
allowing it to push back on events in Washington last week and
the surge in the COVID-19 cases," said Matt Stucky, portfolio
manager, equities, at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management
Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"There is a lot of bright news on the horizon on vaccine
rollouts and a likelihood of more fiscal stimulus in
Washington."
In the previous session, the three main indexes had ended
below their all-time highs, as investors worried that attempts
to impeach President Donald Trump could delay the Joe Biden
administration's first moves on stimulus, spurring some
profit-taking on the past month's gains.
Democrats will give Trump one last chance on Tuesday to
leave office days before his term expires or face an
unprecedented second impeachment over his supporters' storming
of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. "Even if (additional stimulus) is delayed, it's going to be
a matter of days, maybe weeks, not months. The question is the
shape and form of it," said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at
GlobAlt in Atlanta.
At 10:10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 11.88 points, or 0.04%, to 31,020.57, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 2.33 points, or 0.06%, to 3,801.94 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 27.57 points, or 0.21%, to 13,064.00.
The small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT index gained about 1%.
Fourth-quarter earnings will take center stage starting
Friday, with results from JPMorgan JPM.N , Citigroup C.N and
other big banks launching the reporting season.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have dropped
9.8% year-over-year in the final quarter of 2020, according to
IBES data from Refinitiv, but they are expected to rebound in
2021, with a gain of 16.4% projected for the first quarter.
Albertsons Cos Inc ACI.N rose 2.1% after the grocer
reported quarterly sales above estimates, as consumers wary of
rising coronavirus cases stocked their pantries and cooked more
at home. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.6-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.9-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 57 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 233 new highs and eight new lows.