US STOCKS-Wall Street moves higher on Brexit deal, robust earnings

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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
* Indexes up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 500 0.56%, Nasdaq 0.67%

(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, supported
by Netflix and Morgan Stanley following upbeat reports, with
investors also cheering 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 across global equities, 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 jumped 4.8%, after the video
streaming service provider added slightly more paying
subscribers than Wall Street expected in the third quarter.
The stock helped the communication services sector .SPLRCL
gain 0.7%, the biggest among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors
trading higher.
Morgan Stanley MS.N climbed 3.6% after the bank beat
analysts' expectations for quarterly profit, buoyed by higher
revenue from bond trading and M&A advisory fees.
Bank stocks .SPXBK gained 0.9%, while financials .SPSY
rose 0.7%.
Results from Morgan Stanley wrapped up upbeat earnings from
major U.S. banks 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
recently hit sentiment, with investors squarely focused on
third-quarter earnings.
Analysts are expecting S&P 500 third-quarter earnings to
fall by 2.9%, which would mark the first year-on-year
contraction since 2016.
Of the 63 S&P 500 companies to have posted quarterly results
so far, 82.5% have beaten estimates.
At 9:49 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 16.73 points, or
0.56%, at 3,006.42 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 54.22
points, or 0.67%, at 8,178.40.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 82.55 points,
or 0.31%, at 27,084.53.
Limiting gains on the blue-chip index was a 5.4% fall 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
0.53%.
CSX Corp CSX.O shares rose 3.6% after the railroad
operator beat quarterly profit expectations, while peer Union
Pacific Corp UNP.N fell 1.5% on missing earnings estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.25-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 3.16-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 29 new highs and 14 new lows.