US stocks rally ahead of key earnings reports

NEW YORK -- US stocks rose on Monday as investors awaited earnings reports from high-profile tech companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 417.06 points, or 1.34 percent, to 31,499.62. The S&P 500 increased 44.59 points, or 1.19 percent, to 3,797.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 92.89 points, or 0.86 percent, to 10,952.61.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with health care and consumer staples up 1.91 percent and 1.79 percent, respectively, leading the advancers. Materials and real estate slipped 0.62 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.

Earnings season heats up this week with US tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon on deck to report.

"3Q earnings season is off to a mixed start and profit momentum is weakening" as companies face the challenging combination of weakening demand and rising costs, UBS analysts said Monday in a note.

Investors also digested a slew of weak US economic data, assessing the possibility of a Federal Reserve policy pivot.

The flash US manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) registered 49.9 in October, down from 52 in the prior month, S&P Global reported on Monday.

The S&P Global flash US services business activity index fell to 46.6 in October from 49.3 in September. Readings above 50 signify expansion, while readings below that suggest contraction.

Last week, Wall Street reaped solid gains after top Fed officials indicated they had started to discuss pausing rate rises.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow rose 4.9 percent, the S&P 500 increased 4.7 percent, and the Nasdaq advanced 5.2 percent.