U.S. Stocks Get a Lift From Earnings; Berkshire Boosts Banks

U.S. stocks finished broadly higher for the third day in a row Monday. Media, retail and technology companies rose, and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway led gains for the financial sector.

Most sectors climbed as companies including Facebook and Netflix recovered some of the losses they sustained recently. Investors continued to focus on companies’ quarterly results instead of the escalating trade threats the U.S. and China made last week.

The S&P 500 index rose 10.05 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,850.40, its highest close since Jan. 29. The benchmark index has risen for five weeks in a row, its longest winning streak in 2018.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 39.60 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,502.18. The Nasdaq composite added 47.66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,859.68. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 10.94 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,684.31.

Facebook helped pull technology companies upward as it gained 4.4 percent to $185.69.

Results for Berkshire Hathaway were stronger than analysts expected and the company’s Class B shares climbed 2.9 percent to $206.06.

Construction and technical services company Jacobs Engineering jumped 7.8 percent to $72.31 after it gave a strong forecast for its next fiscal year.

Tyson Foods gained 3.3 percent to $59.64. The meat processor cut its profit forecast last week in part because of uncertainty surrounding trade policy and rising freight costs. Its stock is down 26 percent this year.

Consumer products company Newell Brands dropped 14.3 percent to $22.76. The company said the liquidation of Toys R Us hurt its baby products business.

The company also said the combination of U.S. tariffs on goods from China and tariffs imposed by the European Union and Canada following the U.S. taxes on imported steel and aluminum could cost it as much as $100 million a year.

Oil futures gave up most of an early gain, but still finished higher. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 0.8 percent to $69.01 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 0.7 percent to $73.75 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline remained at $2.07 a gallon. Heating oil climbed 0.6 percent to $2.14 a gallon. Natural gas added 0.2 percent to $2.86 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Regulators in China tightened controls on trading in the yuan in a possible effort to stop its decline against the dollar. The yuan has drifted lower against the dollar since February, which could help Chinese exporters that face higher U.S. tariffs but also raises the risk of capital flowing out of the economy.

The British pound weakened after the U.K.’s trade minister warned that the country risks leaving the European Union without a deal to avoid tariffs and other trade barriers. The currency fell to $1.2944, its lowest in almost a year, from $1.3007 on Friday.

The dollar rose to 111.40 yen from 111.23 yen. The euro fell to $1.1556 from $1.1578.