Stocks Post Biggest Gain in Three Weeks

U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Monday, posting their biggest advance in three weeks, as better-than-expected earnings from companies helped deliver a dollop of confidence to global-equity markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 208.63 points, or 1.17%, to 18,034.93. The S&P 500 gained 19.22 points, or 0.92%, to 2,100.40. The Nasdaq Composite added 62.79 points, or 1.27%, to 4,994.60.

IBM (IBM) logged first-quarter profits Monday that easily surpassed analysts’ estimates, but Big Blue’s sales came in short. The blue-chip tech firm revealed adjusted per-share earnings of $2.91, topping the consensus estimate of analysts in a FactSet Research Systems poll of $2.82. Sales on continuing operations came in at $19.59 billion, shy of expectations of $19.68 billion.

Halliburton Co’s (HAL.N) quarterly profit beat analyst expectations by the biggest margin in at least eight quarters. Revenue fell by 4 percent to $7.05 billion in the first quarter, but beat analysts’ average expectation of $6.96 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, helped by strength in the Middle East and Asia and Latin America.

General Electric Co is in early-stage talks with Wells Fargo & Co about selling its entire $74 billion U.S. commercial lending and leasing (CLL) portfolio to the bank, according to a source familiar with the situation.

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