Stocks Rise As Earnings Reports Top Expectations

IEVA M. AUGSTUMS

NEW YORK (AP) — Investors found a fresh appetite for stocks Monday after a handful of earnings reports revived hopes that the U.S. economy is improving.

Industrial equipment maker Eaton Corp. said it was seeing improvement in key markets and raised its full-year profit forecast. Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. managed to post a profit despite a sharp fall in revenue, and toymaker Hasbro Inc.'s income rose on cost cuts.

As earnings reporting gets into full swing this week, investors are relieved to see better results in a broad range of industries following some downbeat news last week from major banks, which reported deepening loan delinquencies as consumers and businesses continue to struggle with paying off their debts.

Technology earnings have come in relatively well so far, with solid reports last week from Google Inc. and leading chipmaker Intel Corp. The market will get a chance to see if that trend will continue after the market closes Monday with reports from Apple Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc.

Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial in Boston, noted that three of every four companies so far has topped analysts' expectations for earnings in the July-September quarter. White says that's a sign that the economy is doing better than most investors had predicted.