Stocks end bad month with gain

Indexes rallied for the second day in a row but finished with their biggest monthly loss in seven years.

Stocks climbed Wednesday for the second day in a row at the end of a brutal month for the global market. Investors applauded strong quarterly results from companies including Facebook and General Motors, but U.S. stocks still finished with their biggest monthly loss in seven years.

Markets in Europe, Asia and the United States rallied after better-than-expected results from various companies and continued hiring by U.S. businesses. Many of Wednesday’s biggest gains came from technology and internet companies and retailers, which dived early in October as investors worried about rising interest rates and the U.S.-China trade war.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 hadn’t risen for two consecutive days since late September. It finished October with a loss of 6.9%, its biggest since September 2011. The third quarter was the best in five years for U.S. stocks, but October wiped out those gains. The S&P 500 is up 1.4% for the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite skidded 9.2%, its biggest one-month loss since November 2008.

Stocks began sinking Oct. 3 as interest rates jumped. Even after those rate gains eased, investors kept selling stocks as they worried about the trade war and other factors that could also hurt economic growth and company profits.

Investors are that much more nervous because corporate profit growth is already expected to slow in 2019.

Schroders investment strategist Marina Severinovsky said several factors could help stocks over the next few weeks: Corporate stock purchases are expected to rise, and President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could meet this month, an opportunity for progress in trade talks.

Severinovsky added that whatever the outcome of next week’s midterm elections, stocks will probably rise once the elections are over. “Markets tend to rally on certainty,” she said.

The S&P 500 index climbed 29.11 points, or 1.1%, to 2,711.74 on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 241.12 points, or 1%, to 25,115.76. The Nasdaq jumped 144.25 points, or 2%, to 7,305.90. The Russell 2000 index edged up 4.78 points, or 0.3%, to 1,511.41. Smaller and more U.S.-focused companies did even worse than the rest of the stock market in October.

Facebook had a mixed third quarter, but even that was a relief to Wall Street. The stock climbed 3.8% to $151.79, adding to Tuesday’s 2.9% gain. It’s down 30% from its July record high.

Other highflying internet and tech stocks did better. Netflix jumped 5.6% to $301.78. Apple rose 2.6% to $218.86. Amazon climbed 4.4% to $1,598.01, though it fell 20% for the month.

General Motors jumped 9.1% to $36.59 on Wednesday after reporting that it did far better than expected in the third quarter and offered buyouts to about 18,000 white-collar employees in North America.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.14% from 3.11%.

Benchmark U.S. crude slid 1.3% to $65.31 a barrel, bringing it to a monthly decline of 10%. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 0.6% on Wednesday to $75.47 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline fell 2.1% to $1.77 a gallon. Heating oil edged up 0.1% to $2.26 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2.3% to $3.26 per 1,000 cubic feet.