Earnings lift U.S. stocks; Berkshire boosts banks

NEW YORK» U.S. stocks finished broadly higher for the third day in a row Monday. Media, retail and technology companies rose, and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway led gains for the financial sector.

Most sectors climbed as companies including Facebook and Netflix recovered some of the losses they sustained recently. Investors continued to focus on companies’ quarterly results instead of the escalating trade threats the U.S. and China made last week.

Company profits have rocketed higher this year thanks to the corporate tax cut and continued economic growth. But in the first quarter investors didn’t always react to that growth because they were worried about the U.S.’s numerous trade disputes. Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivative strategist for BTIG, said that’s starting to change.

“The skepticism that we had a quarter ago seems, rightly, to be falling by the wayside,” he said.

The S&P 500 index rose 10.05 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,850.40, its highest close since Jan. 29. The benchmark index has risen for five weeks in a row, its longest winning streak in 2018.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 39.60 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,502.18. The Nasdaq composite added 47.66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,859.68. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 10.94 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,684.31.

Facebook helped pull technology companies upward as it gained 4.4 percent to $185.69. The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook has talked to four major U.S. banks about possibly offering new services through Facebook Messenger.

Results for Berkshire Hathaway were stronger than analysts expected and the company’s Class B shares climbed 2.9 percent to $206.06.

Construction and technical services company Jacobs Engineering jumped 7.8 percent to $72.31 after it gave a strong forecast for its next fiscal year.

Tyson Foods gained 3.3 percent to $59.64. The poultry and pork processor cut its profit forecast last week in part because of uncertainty surrounding trade policy and rising freight costs. Its stock is down 26 percent this year.