Wall Street up ahead of Bernanke, Goldman climbs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Tuesday, lifted by strong earnings from Goldman Sachs and Coca-Cola, and ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Bernanke isn't expected to announce any new program designed to stimulate the economy, but many investors are hoping he will hint at a time frame for a move like a third round of quantitative easing.

Goldman Sachs rose 2 percent to $99.59 after reporting earnings that beat expectations, the latest financial company to rally on results. Coca-Cola Co , which also topped consensus forecasts, gained 2.6 percent to $78.45.

Bernanke is testifying before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee at 10:00 a.m., and while recent indications have suggested the Fed won't announce another round of quantitative easing unless economic conditions deteriorate further, the comments will still be closely monitored.

"Today we'll get a sense of Bernanke's tolerance for what's clearly a slowing in growth," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York, referring to the economic conditions needed for the Fed to step in and boost growth.

"If Bernanke doesn't give the market what it wants today, the ensuing market selloff in the context of a fragile economy will just clinch an eventual QE program."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 68.34 points, or 0.54 percent, at 12,795.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 6.93 points, or 0.51 percent, at 1,360.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 16.04 points, or 0.55 percent, at 2,912.98.

The market is coming off a period of weakness, with Monday's retail sales data the latest sign of slowing growth. Markets are down seven of the past eight sessions.

Johnson & Johnson reported adjusted profit that beat expectations by a penny, but posted lower-than-expected sales and cut its full-year profit forecast, sending shares down 0.9 percent to $67.78.

With 6 percent of S&P components having reported thus far, 65 percent have topped profit expectations, according to the latest Thomson Reuters data.

Yahoo Inc rose 0.6 percent to $15.75 after naming Marissa Mayer, a now-former top executive at Google Inc , as its new chief executive. The company has cycled through three CEOs in a year.

U.S. consumer prices were flat in June, as expected, as the cost of gasoline dropped, offering some relief for cash-strapped Americans and scope for the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy further to help the faltering recovery.

Morgan Stanley cut its 2012 U.S. auto sales projections by about 3 percent and cut its profit outlooks for the sector due to weak sales.

(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Dave Zimmerman)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky