US STOCKS-Wall St edges higher with eyes on earnings season; GM soars

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* GM jumps on launching electric delivery vehicle business
* Financials hit near 1-year high, energy at 7-month peak
* Big Banks to report fourth-quarter results on Friday
* Uber hits record high on "green trip" option, Moderna
tie-up
* Indexes up: Dow 0.14%, S&P 0.13%, Nasdaq 0.36%

(Adds comment; Updates market prices)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Jan 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes inched higher
on Tuesday ahead of the start of corporate America's reporting
season that could signal a rebound in earnings, while General
Motors' shares jumped on launching an electric delivery vehicle
business.
The U.S. automaker's shares GM.N added 6.4% to hit highest
in a decade after Chief Executive Officer 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 also rose 6.4% as a
regulatory filing showed the electric-car maker moved a step
closer to its launch in India later this year by registering a
company in the country. Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading higher with
energy stocks .SPNY gaining about 3%, tracking higher crude
prices. O/R
Rate-sensitive banks .SPXBK climbed 2.2% as benchmark U.S.
Treasury yields reached their highest levels since March. US/
The small-cap Russell 2000 index .RUT gained about 1.4%.
Hopes of a big boost to public spending and speedy roll-out
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 to 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.
"There is a lot of bright news on the horizon on vaccine
roll-outs and a likelihood of more fiscal stimulus in
Washington."
Focus will now shift to fourth-quarter earnings 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 are expected to rebound in 2021,
with a gain of 16.4% projected for the first quarter.
At 11:26 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 44.54 points, or 0.14%, to 31,053.23, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 4.93 points, or 0.13%, to 3,804.54, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 46.66 points, or 0.36%, to 13,083.09.
Democrats will give President Donald 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. Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N jumped
7% to touch a record high after it expanded its electric vehicle
and hybrid ride option to over 1,400 new cities in North
America. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.8-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 81 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 353 new highs and 12 new lows.