NEW YORK, July 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. equities finished with decent gains on Tuesday, boosted by a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 177.29 points, or 0.65 percent, to 27,349.19. The S&P 500 advanced 20.44 points, or 0.68 percent, to 3,005.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 47.27 points, or 0.58 percent, to 8,251.40.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with materials up nearly 2 percent, outpacing the rest. Utilities fell 0.61 percent, the only decliner among the groups.
Coca-Cola shares soared 6.07 percent after the beverage company reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street's expectations.
United Technologies, another Dow component, also posted better-than-anticipated quarterly results, sending the stock up 1.5 percent.
A wave of companies is expected to report earnings this week including big names Alphabet, Amazon and Boeing.
So far, more than 18 percent of S&P 500 companies have posted quarterly numbers. Of those companies, more than 78 percent have reported better-than-expected profits, according to FactSet data.
On the economic front, U.S. total existing-home sales dropped 1.7 percent in June, indicating a softening U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday. Sales as a whole were down 2.2 percent from a year ago. Enditem
