Dow Industrials Turn Higher After 5 Straight Losses

U.S. stocks moved broadly higher in morning trading Friday ahead of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. Phone company stocks led the gainers. Energy stocks also rose as oil prices headed higher. Investors also had their eye on the latest batch of company earnings and outlooks.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 99 points, or 0.5 percent, to 19,831 as of 11:07 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow is coming off five straight losses and turned positive for the year again. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,274. The Nasdaq composite index added 21 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,561.

THE QUOTE: An overall improvement in quarterly results so far this corporate earnings season as well as optimism over the Trump inauguration helped lift stocks, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

“Historically, the market has performed best in the November-April time frame,” Stovall said. “The Trump victory added a tailwind to this traditional seasonal factor.”

TRUMP’S INAUGURATION: Investors will be looking for clues in Trump’s midday inauguration speech about his plans on fiscal stimulus, tax cuts and trade. Expectations of lower taxes and less regulation on businesses gave stocks a boost for much of the last two months of 2016. But the possibility of increased tariffs or trade restrictions could mean drops in profits for big U.S. companies.

Since 1953, starting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inauguration, the S&P 500 has risen an average of 1.6 percent in the first 100 days of a president’s first term in office, Stovall noted.

STRONG RESULTS: Skyworks Solutions jumped 12.4 percent after the semiconductor products maker reported better-than-anticipated quarterly results. The stock was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, adding $9.72 to $88.18.

BRIGHT OUTLOOK: Consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble rose 3.8 percent after releasing a strong growth forecast. The stock added $3.24 to $87.94.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: Citizens Financial Group gained 2.9 percent after reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. The stock rose $1 to $35.73.

BIG DECLINER: TransDigm Group was down the most among stocks in the S&P 500. It slumped $31.63, or 12.6 percent, to $220.13.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was 0.2 percent higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.7 percent after the Chinese government said the economy grew at a 6.8 percent annual rate in the last quarter, even as full-year growth increased 6.7 percent, the weakest in three decades. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up $1.42, or 2.8 percent, at $52.79 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was up $1.44, or 2.7 percent, at $55.60 a barrel in London.

BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.49 percent from 2.47 percent late Thursday. Yields have been rising as investors expect inflation to increase.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 115.01 yen from Thursday’s 114.80. The euro rose to $1.0680 from $1.0659.