US stock advanced before company earnings season starts

Main US stock indexes grew yesterday as investors are focusing at the second quarter earnings data and aid for Greece was approved. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 1,640.46 at 4 p.m. in New York, the highest in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 88.85 points, or 0.6% to 15,224.69. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.4% after losing 1.3% on July 5, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1.4%.

The S&P 500 continued its rally from June 5 when the better than expected jobs data boosted concerns about reducing stimulus by Federal Bank.

“The market appears to be discounting a strengthening economy in the second half and into 2014 and the earnings season really should give us some clarity as to whether that’s appropriate,” Gary Flam, from Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview for Bloomberg. “I really don’t think the earnings season is going to be so much about the second quarter, but more about the pickup in the second half that the market appears to be anticipating.”

S&P 500 grew 1.8% last quarter, down from projection of 8.7% six months ago, according to more than 11,000 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, share-price targets for companies such as GameStop Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are rising at the fastest rate in more than two years. The U.S. benchmark index will increase 8.9% from last week’s close to a record 1,777.91 according to estimates.

In corporate news, Alcoa the US largest aluminium company rose 1.41%. The company which had its rating cut by Moody 6 weeks ago beat estimates of earnings and revenue.

Intel Corp. lost 3.6%, leading a retreat in technology companies, as analysts at Evercore Partners Inc. and Citigroup Inc. lowered earnings forecasts for 2013 and 2014 due to weakening demand for personal computers. Tech sector sank by most among 10 sectors in S&P.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc soared 3.8% after a person with knowledge of the matter said former Standard Chartered Plc Chairman Mervyn Davies is assembling a group of investors to bid for part of the U.K. government’s stake in the mortgage lender. The Sunday Times reported that Singapore’s state-owned investment company Temasek made a preliminary approach about buying a 10% stake in Lloyds.

Utility companies included in the S&P 500 surged 1.4%. NRG Energy Inc. gained 4.2%. The largest independent U.S. electricity generator noted its NRG Yield Inc. unit is offering stock in an initial public offering.