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* Brexit deal yet to receive parliament approval
* Netflix jumps on adding more paying subscribers
* Morgan Stanley wraps up bank earnings with profit beat
* IBM falls on quarterly revenue miss, pressures Dow
* Indexes up: Dow 0.15%, S&P 500 0.36%, Nasdaq 0.35%
(Updates market action, adds background)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Oct 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Thursday, with the
S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes near one-month highs on upbeat
earnings from Netflix and Morgan Stanley, while investors
cheered Britain's preliminary last-minute deal with the European
Union.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "we have a great
new Brexit deal", lifting the mood in global markets, but he
still faces a tough vote in parliament on Saturday. "It seems as if the Brexit deal is being viewed as a modest
positive by investors but along with the tentative U.S.-China
trade deal, the devil is in the details," said Michael Geraghty,
equity strategist at Cornerstone Capital Group in New York.
"From where we are right now investors are viewing the glass
as half full."
Netflix Inc NFLX.O shares rose 4.4%, after the video
streaming service provider added slightly more paying
subscribers than Wall Street's expectations in the third
quarter. The stock helped the communication services sector .SPLRCL
gain 0.7%.
Morgan Stanley MS.N climbed 3% after the bank beat
analysts' expectations for quarterly profit, wrapping up strong
earnings from major U.S. lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co
JPM.N , Citigroup Inc C.N and Bank of America
BAC.N .
"So far so good. Definitely the bank earnings have been
terrific, relative to expectations," said Paul Nolte, portfolio
manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
Supporting sentiment was White House economic adviser Larry
Kudlow's comments that he sees momentum to finalize the initial
phase of a U.S.-China trade deal outlined last week, adding it
may be signed at the APEC forum next month. Rising uncertainties around the trade war, increasing
geopolitical risks and weak domestic economic indicators have
been a concern for investors.
In the latest sign, data showed U.S. homebuilding tumbled
from a more than a 12-year high in September, while another
report showed a deceleration in factory activity in the
mid-Atlantic region in October. The third-quarter earnings season is expected to see its
first year-on-year contraction since 2016, with analysts
estimating a 2.9% drop in S&P 500 earnings.
Of the 63 S&P 500 companies to have posted quarterly results
so far, 82.5% have beaten estimates.
At 11:20 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 10.89 points, or
0.36%, at 3,000.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 28.65
points, or 0.35%, at 8,152.84.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 39.83 points,
or 0.15%, at 27,041.81
Limiting gains on the blue-chip index was a 6% slide in
shares of International Business Machines Corp IBM.N after the
company missed quarterly revenue estimates.
The Dow Jones Transports index .DJT , which is closely
watched by investors to gauge the health of the economy, was up
0.8%.
CSX Corp CSX.O shares rose 2.5% after the railroad
operator beat quarterly profit expectations.
Union Pacific Corp UNP.N missed earnings estimates but
shares of the company reversed earlier losses to trade 0.9%
higher. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.31-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 37 new lows.