US STOCKS-Wall Street soars after strong start to earnings season

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* JPMorgan hits record high; lifts bank stocks
* UnitedHealth eyes best day in more than a decade
* JNJ set for biggest one-day percentage gain since Jan
* Goldman Sachs drops on earnings miss
* Indexes up: Dow 1.01%, S&P 1.06%, Nasdaq 1.09%

(Adds comment; updates market action)
By Arjun Panchadar and Sagarika Jaisinghani
Oct 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street gained 1% on Tuesday as
strong earnings from JPMorgan, UnitedHealth and Johnson &
Johnson allayed concerns about the fallout from a prolonged
U.S.-China trade war on corporate America.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N hit a record high
after the largest U.S. bank by assets blew past Wall Street
estimates for third-quarter profit. The bank's results lifted the S&P 500 banking sector
.SPXBK to its highest level in more than 2-1/2 months. Goldman
Sachs GS.N was the only major U.S. bank trading lower after
posting a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit. UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N was set to post its best day
in more than a decade, while Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N shares
eyed their biggest one-day percentage gain since January after
both companies raised their profit forecasts. The stocks were among the top boosts to the S&P 500 and Dow
Jones indexes, and lifted the S&P healthcare sector .SPXHC to
a three-week high. Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were
higher.
"If this earnings season turns out to be better than
expected, we can end up with a scenario that there won't be
pressure on the labor market and that keeps us away from a
recession," said Phil Blancato, chief executive of Ladenburg
Thalmann Asset Management in New York.
Analysts have forecast the worst quarterly profit
performance in about three years for S&P 500 companies, with
industrials among those most at risk from the trade dispute.

For interactive graphic, click link: https://tmsnrt.rs/2IUwPLY
Wall Street has been rattled over the past 15 months by
tit-for-tat tariffs by the United States and China, with the
impact already reflecting in the domestic economy. After solid
increases in the first quarter, gains in the three main U.S.
stock indexes have tapered off.
At 11:44 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 269.49 points, or 1.01%, at 27,056.85. The S&P 500 .SPX was
up 31.42 points, or 1.06%, at 2,997.57 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 87.74 points, or 1.09%, at 8,136.39.
Shares of mobile game developer Glu Mobile GLUU.O jumped
10.09% as the company is set to replace SolarEdge Technologies
SEDG.O in the S&P SmallCap 600. BlackRock Inc BLK.N , the world's biggest asset manager,
rose 2.2% after its quarterly profit beat estimates.
D.R. Horton Inc DHI.N , Toll Brothers Inc TOL.N , Lennar
Corp LEN.N and PulteGroup Inc PHM.N rose marginally after
RBC Capital Markets raised its price targets on several housing
stocks. Bank of America BAC.N and Morgan Stanley MS.N are due to
report later this week, along with Netflix Inc NFLX.O , Abbott
Laboratories ABT.N and International Business Machines
IBM.N .
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.38-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.83-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 14 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 31 new highs and 51 new lows.

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