Stocks surge on U.S. corporate results, bonds fall

 

Global equity markets rose on Thursday, with stocks on Wall Street surging more than 1 percent as U.S. corporate earnings continued to beat expectations, while government debt prices fell on encouraging American and German economic reports.

Results from Caterpillar Inc and 3M Co, both Dow components, reassured investors that companies with large overseas revenue streams can deliver solid profits despite concerns about global economic growth.

Shares of Caterpillar, which raised its full-year earnings outlook, rose 5.0 percent, while 3M shares jumped 5.9 percent.

The surge put the benchmark S&P 500 index up 3.6 percent for this week, reversing four straight weeks of decline, and on track for its biggest weekly gain since January 2013.

With 177 of the S&P 500 companies having posted third-quarter results, 69.5 percent have beaten expectations, better than the 67 percent beat rate over the past four quarters, and higher than the 20-year average of 63 percent, Thomson Reuters data show.

The surge on Wall Street helped turn around European stocks, which initially fell on weak results from some companies, including French tire-maker Michelin, despite support from better-than-expected euro zone business activity data.