US stocks rally amid strong earnings reports

New York, July 24: US equities finished with decent gains on Tuesday, boosted by a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 177.29 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 27,349.19. The S&P 500 advanced 20.44 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 3,005.47, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 47.27 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 8,251.40.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with materials up nearly 2 per cent, outpacing the rest. Utilities fell 0.61 per cent, the only decliner among the groups.

Coca-Cola shares soared 6.07 per cent after the beverage company reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street's expectations.

United Technologies, another Dow component, also posted better-than-anticipated quarterly results, sending the stock up 1.5 per cent.

A wave of companies is expected to report earnings this week including big names Alphabet, Amazon and Boeing.

So far, more than 18 per cent of S&P 500 companies have posted quarterly numbers. Of those companies, more than 78 per cent have reported better-than-expected profits, according to FactSet data.

On the economic front, US total existing-home sales dropped 1.7 per cent in June, indicating a softening US housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday. Sales as a whole were down 2.2 per cent from a year ago.