Por Devik Jain
(Reuters) – Major US stock indexes rose on Wednesday, helped by strong quarterly results from healthcare companies such as Anthem and Abbott, as concerns remained about supply chain disruptions and the impact of inflation on balance sheet corporates.
Abbott Laboratories was up 4.2 percent after raising its full-year profit forecast due to a pick-up in sales of Covid-19 tests.
Anthem was up 5.7%, while Biogen was up 2%, after both healthcare companies raised their full-year profit forecasts.
Eight of the top 11 sub-indices of the S&P 500 traded higher led by healthcare stocks.
Analysts expect S&P 500-listed companies to lose 33 per cent of their profits from the same period last year, according to data from Refinitiv, keeping an eye on the growth prospects of companies facing rising costs, labor shortages and supply chain constraints. will increase.
“Investors are digesting the impact of balance sheet and supply chain disruptions in corporate America,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at Citi Index.
At 11:39 am (Eastern Time), the Dow Jones rose 0.44% to reach 35,614.28 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.36% to 4,536.03, while the Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 15,159.29.
(by Richard Rohan Francis and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru)
