Stocks end higher after steady gains

NEWYORK— Stocks ended broadly higher on Wall Street on Wednesday after steadily gaining throughout the day.

The S&P 500 index added 0.9% following its first back-to-back loss since March. Technology companies and banks helped lead the way higher. Communications stocks were among the only losers, led by a 7.4% drop in Netflix after the video streaming pioneer disappointed investors with a slowdown in subscriber additions.

Much of the market’s focus over the next two weeks will be on individual companies and how well their quarterly results turn out. This week roughly 80 members of the S&P 500 are due to report results, as well as one out of every three members of the Dow. On average, analysts expect quarterly profits across the S&P 500 to climb 24% from a year earlier, according to Factset.

“Those companies that meet or beat on revenue and paint a nice picture for the rest of the year are being rewarded,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. “When a railroad company is saying we really see improvement for the second half of the year, that’s a really good sign.”

Railroad operator CSX said its first-quarter profit fell because of higher expenses, but it expects to benefit as the U.S. economy strengthens further over the rest of the year. The stock rose 4.4%.

Investors are looking to justify the market’s advance this year, despite the lingering pandemic and higher-than-normal unemployment.