* Amex falls as credit spending slumps
* Honeywell down on aerospace unit revenue miss
* Pinterest up as Credit Suisse raises price target
* Indexes up: Dow 0.50%, S&P 1.00%, Nasdaq 1.36%
(Adds comments, updates prices to early afternoon)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes jumped on Friday as
a rise in factory activity in April supported bets of swifter
economic recovery, while a fall in shares of American Express
and Honeywell kept gains on the blue-chip Dow in check.
Data firm IHS Markit said its flash U.S. manufacturing PMI
increased to 60.6 in the first half of this month, the highest
reading since the series started in May 2007. All the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher by early
afternoon trading, with technology .SPLRCT and financials
.SPSY leading gains.
Earnings reports in the day were lackluster, with American
Express Co AXP.N sliding 2.5% after reporting a slump in
credit spending and lower quarterly revenue. Honeywell International HON.N fell 2.4% after it missed
revenue expectations for its aerospace division, its biggest
business segment.
Wall Street's main indexes had slid nearly nearly 1% in the
previous session following reports of U.S. President Joe Biden's
plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, including the
largest-ever increase in levies on investment gains.
"What we are seeing here is the market is attempting to
rally after yesterday's decline, which I think was an
aberration," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"Since the beginning of Biden's campaign, he has always
talked about higher taxes. So, this is nothing new for the
markets."
Analysts expect earnings from tech giants Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Amazon Inc AMZN.O and
Facebook Inc FB.O next week to give markets some direction,
after choppy trading for the most part of this week.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI are on course for weekly declines after four
straight weeks of gains as the latest worries over tax hikes and
a resurgence in global coronavirus cases dulled sentiment.
Speedy vaccination rollouts and trillions in dollars of
economic stimulus have helped the S&P 500 and the Dow clinch
all-time highs last week, with technology and other so-called
growth names lagging cheaper value stocks that are expected to
outperform as the economy re-opens after the pandemic shock.
At 12:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 169.41 points, or 0.50%, at 33,985.31, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 41.22 points, or 1.00%, at 4,176.20 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 187.59 points, or 1.36%, at 14,006.01.
Naked Brand Group NAKD.O , jumped 6.1% after shareholders
approved the proposed divestiture of the company's Bendon
brick-and-mortar operations. Image sharing company Pinterest Inc PINS.N gained 2% as
Credit Suisse raised price target, saying its newer product
offerings and expanding footprint in markets abroad will yield
higher revenue and user growth.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.65-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.52-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 54 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 71 new highs and 15 new lows.