US Stocks Shake Off Wobbly Start       08/03 15:51

   Technology and health care companies led a broad rally on Wall Street 
Tuesday that helped stocks overcome a wobbly start and recoup their losses from 
a day earlier.

   (AP) -- Technology and health care companies led a broad rally on Wall 
Street Tuesday that helped stocks overcome a wobbly start and recoup their 
losses from a day earlier.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.8% after having been down 0.3% in the early going. The 
gain inched the benchmark index to an all-time high, eclipsing the record it 
set early last week.

   Banks, industrial companies and energy stocks also helped push the S&P 500 
higher. Communications companies were the only laggard. Treasury yields were 
mixed.

   Investors weighed another large swath of company earnings reports Tuesday, 
including quarterly snapshots from Ralph Lauren and Clorox. While earnings have 
been strong, Wall Street remains cautious over COVID-19 and its potential 
impact on a still recovering economy amid the spread of the highly contagious 
delta variant.

   This mutant version of COVID-19 is still reason for caution, but it likely 
won't have a significant impact on the economy's reopening and recovery because 
hospitalizations are relatively tame and fatalities are very low in comparison 
to infections, said Jason Pride, chief investment officer of private wealth at 
Glenmede.

   "We may still deal with the lingering residual effects of the pandemic," 
Pride said. "You've probably got a period of time where the economy has to 
restitch itself back together."

   The S&P 500 rose 35.99 points to 4,423.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
gained 278.24 points, or 0.8%, to 35,116.40. and the Nasdaq composite index 
picked up 80.23 points, or 0.6%, to 14,761.29.

   Smaller company stocks also notched gains. The Russell 2000 index rose 8.09 
points, or 0.4%, to 2,223.58.

   Investors are in the midst of earnings season, with more than 100 companies 
in the S&P 500 index reporting their results this week. So far earnings have 
been strong, with roughly nine out of every 10 companies beating analysts' 
expectations.

   Clorox slumped 9.5% after reporting results that fell short of forecast and 
releasing a disappointing outlook.

   Solid financial results helped lift several other companies. Ralph Lauren 
climbed 6.1% after handily beating analysts' fiscal first-quarter profit 
forecasts as sales rebounded. Columbia Sportswear rose 0.6% after reporting a 
surprise second-quarter profit.

   Activision Blizzard fell 3.5% after the head of Blizzard Entertainment said 
he would resign, effective immediately. Blizzard, maker of popular video games 
such as "Overwatch" and "World of Warcraft," has been accused in a lawsuit of 
having a toxic work environment which has caused walkouts by employees.

   Online broker Robinhood jumped 24.2% and topped its IPO price for the first 
time since its stock began trading last Thursday.

   Bond yields were relatively stable. The yield on 10-year Treasury inched up 
to 1.18% from 1.17% from the day before. Less than a month ago, the 10-year 
note was trading around a yield of 1.35%.

   Investors will be watching closely when the Labor Department releases its 
July jobs report Friday. Economists surveyed by FactSet forecast that the 
employers created 837,500 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 
5.7%.