US Stocks Rebound

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are rebounding Wednesday morning as strong results from Morgan Stanley and rising bond yields send banks and other financial companies higher. Industrial and basic materials companies are also gaining ground.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 9 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,351 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average added just 1 point to 20,524 as a drop in IBM weighed on the blue-chip index. The Nasdaq composite jumped 35 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,884. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks climbed 10 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,372 after a late gain a day earlier.

Stocks mostly skidded Tuesday after weak earnings from a few key companies, especially health care products giant Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs. Overall, analysts still expect good first-quarter results from publicly-traded companies, and that was mostly the case Wednesday morning. The price of gold, which has climbed steadily in recent weeks, fell almost 1 percent.

BANKS COME BACK: Wealth management and investment banking firm Morgan Stanley said its profit jumped in the first quarter as its stock and bond trading businesses made about twice as much money as they did one year ago. That continued what's mostly been a strong first quarter for banks and other financial companies. Despite disappointing results from Goldman Sachs Tuesday morning, most financial firms have said their trading units did well in the first quarter, and they're also benefiting from higher interest rates.

Morgan Stanley gained $1.20, or 2.9 percent, to $42.42. Elsewhere, Charles Schwab rose 71 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $38.62 and Prudential climbed $1.42, or 1.4 percent, to $104.99. Bank of America added 42 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $23.13.

HIGH-TECH TROUBLE: Technology and consulting company IBM slumped after a weak sales report. The company reported $18.16 billion in revenue in the first quarter, below the $18.4 billion expected by analysts polled by FactSet. IBM stock fell $8.76, or 5.2 percent, to $161.29.

EARLY LEADERS: GE helped lead industrial companies higher as it gained 15 cents to $29.99. Shipping company FedEx rose $2.29, or 1.2 percent, to $185.91 while rival UPS rose 84 cents to $104.94. Equipment and software maker Rockwell Automation climbed $1.11 to $150.64. Basic materials companies rose behind gains for packaging companies WestRock, which added $1.97, or 3.9 percent, to $52.60 and International Paper, which rose 85 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $52.30.

BONDS: Bond prices fell, reversing gains from a day earlier. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.21 percent from 2.17 percent. That helped banks but hurt high-dividend companies including utilities and real estate investment trusts.

CHOPPY CHOPPER SALES: Textron, which makes Cessna small planes and Bell helicopters, also disclosed lower-than-expected sales. Its stock gave up 98 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $46.36.

NAVIENT NUDGES DOWN: Student loan servicing company Navient announced a smaller profit and less revenue than investors hoped. The company also said it will buy $6.9 billion in education loan assets from JPMorgan Chase, and its stock shed 34 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $14.71.

OIL: U.S. crude oil futures added 10 cents to $52.51 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 18 cents to $55.07 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.14 yen from 108.42 yen. The euro edged down to $1.0707 from $1.0730.

OVERSEAS: British stocks continued to fall. The FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent after a 2.5-percent plunge on Tuesday. Other major European indexes recovered modestly. In France the CAC-40 edged up 0.3 percent and Germany's DAX gained 0.2 percent. In Japan the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1 percent and the South Korean Kospi shed 0.5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent.

(KA)