2014.10.2103:29:52UTC+00US stocks extend rise, S&P on three-day winning streak

US stocks advanced for a third day in a row with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq leading the market as corporate earnings optimism stimulate a rebound from last week’s slump.

The S&P 500 gained 0.91% or 17.25 points to 1,904.01. Consumer staples led the rally with all ten of the industry groups advancing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.12% or 19.26 points to 16,399.67 to scrap off its intraday low that lost the index as much as 119 points. The gauge ended a six-day losing streak as IBM led losses of only 6 in 30 of the index’s 30 components. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.35% or 57.64 points to 4,316.07. The trend showed that for each stock dropping, almost three rose. The New York Stock Exchange witnessed 742 million shares exchanged hands while the composite volume reached 3.3 billion. The  fear gauge of investors or the CBOE Volatility Index weakened by almost 16% to 18.57.

Apple Inc. added 2.1% while Hasbro Inc. gained 4.99%. Sears Holdings Corp. jumped by 23% while the International Business Machine Corp. or the IBM led losses as it shed 7.1% to its lowest level since 2011.

A slew of corporations will be reporting corporate earnings in the following days.

Senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management, Karyn Cavanaugh, commented to Bloomberg that the market is all about the earnings currently. Cavanaugh adds that even it was a big miss for IBM, several other companies delivered a better-than-expected data that is negating IBM’s laggard. Cavanaugh says that the third quarter growth rate has been “ratcheted up” adding to more stimulus for the market.