US STOCKS-Wall Street ends choppy session higher on mixed earnings, U.S. stimulus debate

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By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher on
Wednesday after a see-saw session as investors digested mixed
quarterly results and contentious stimulus negotiations in
Washington.
The major stock indexes oscillated for much of the day but
ended in the black. The Nasdaq had the smallest gain, capped by
a drop in Amazon.com shares.
"Investors are starving for income and they can't get that
in the bond market so they're looking to equities," said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities
in New York. "But even though the averages are going up,
investors seem to be growing more cautious."
The latest figures showed more than 1,000 deaths in the
United States from COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total death
toll to nearly 142,000. Experts warned that number will rise
further due to a surge in new infections. Congressional Democrats and Republicans remained divided on
the details of a new stimulus package expected to cost $1
trillion or more, less than two weeks before extended benefits
are due to expire for millions of unemployed Americans.
"I suspect the administration is going to push to pass
stimulus before the extension expires," Cardillo added. "Or
consumer spending is going to falter again."
On the economic front, sales of existing homes jumped by a
record 20.7% in June, according to the National Association of
Realtors.
The Philadelphia SE Housing index .HGX ended the session
higher, handily outperforming the broader market.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
165.26 points, or 0.62%, to 27,005.66, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
18.78 points, or 0.58%, to 3,276.08 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 25.76 points, or 0.24%, to 10,706.13.
Second quarter earnings season is in full-swing, with 75
constituents of the S&P 500 having posted results. Of those,
77.3% have beaten consensus, according to Refinitiv data.
But expectations have set a low bar. Analysts now see
aggregate S&P 500 second quarter earnings plunging by 41.2%
year-on-year, per Refinitiv.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N advanced after the drugmaker and German
biotech firm BioNTech SE 22UAy.F announced the U.S. government
would pay $1.95 billion 100 million doses of their COVID-19
vaccine candidate. Hospital operator HCA Healthcare Inc HCA.N shares jumped
after reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue.

Snap Inc SNAP.N shares sank after posting a net loss of
$326 million and forecasting fewer-than-expected current-quarter
users. Shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL.O dropped after
the company reported an adjusted net loss of $2.6 billion in the
April to June quarter.