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* J&J beats profit estimates, boosts quarterly dividend
* Apple rises as iPhone shipments to China rebound in March
* Indexes gain: Dow 2%, S&P 2.7%, Nasdaq 3.7%
(Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose more than 2%
on Tuesday as hopes that the Trump administration could move to
ease coronavirus-induced lockdowns overshadowed worrying
quarterly earnings reports from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
White House adviser Larry Kudlow said President Donald Trump
would make a number of announcements about re-opening the U.S.
economy in the next day or two as the health crisis appeared to
be ebbing, but some state governors have said the decision to
re-start businesses lies with them. New York's total hospitalizations fell for the first time
since the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Governor
Andrew Cuomo said. "The market is going up on prospects of the economy
reopening soon and also the coronavirus (possibly) reaching some
sort of peak," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
But, he said, the market could be in store for further sharp
selling in the coming months as data showing the extent of the
economic damage from virus is released. "We're going to see
(macroeconomic) numbers that are going to be frightening, and
that will weigh."
U.S. stock markets have recovered in the past month after
slumping more than 30% from their February record highs,
supported by a raft of monetary and fiscal stimulus and early
signs of a plateau in the number of coronavirus cases.
However, the S&P 500 is still off about $4.7 trillion in
market value and analysts have warned of a torrid earnings
season as the containment measures ground business activity to a
halt.
JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N
reversed early gains to trade lower by the afternoon.
First-quarter profits plunged, with both banks setting aside
billions of dollars to cover potential loan-losses from the
pandemic. Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rose as it reported
better-than-expected quarterly earnings and boosted its
dividend, signaling financial stability at a time when a slate
of blue-chip firms have suspended dividends to shore up cash
reserves. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 511.8 points,
or 2.19%, to 23,902.57, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 80.25 points,
or 2.91%, to 2,841.88 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
316.78 points, or 3.87%, to 8,509.21.
A jump for Apple Inc AAPL.O helped to put the Nasdaq on
course for a fourth straight day of gains as data showed iPhone
shipments to China rebounded slightly in March after crashing in
February. Tesla Inc TSLA.O surged more than 10% and was among the
top boosts to the Nasdaq after brokerage Credit Suisse upgraded
the electric car maker's stock to "neutral."
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.83-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.32-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 8 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 10 new lows.