Strong start to earnings season cheers investors

A positive start to the third quarter earnings season has lifted equity prices higher on the major US and European markets.

The S&P 500 ended the session 1.03% higher at 1,455, while the Dow finished 0.95% up at 13,552, its largest gain in more than a month. Overnight in Asia, the Hong Kong Hang Seng gained 1.07% to trade at 21,433 while the Japanese Nikkei was 1.21% higher at 8,807. Positive sentiment also provided a boost to European equity markets, with the French Cac 40 jumping 80 points or 2.36% to reach 3,501, while the German Dax gained 1.58% to 7,376. In London, the FTSE 100 ended the day up 1.12% at 5,871. Investors are optimistic about the results from US corporates so far in the third quarter...