NEW YORK CITY: US stocks Monday ended higher as investors looked forward to the kickoff of earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.85 (0.59 percent) to 15,224.69.
The broad-based S&P 500 increased 8.57(0.53 percent) to 1,640.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 5.45 (0.16 percent) to 3,484.83.
Investors were not expecting especially impressive earnings for the second quarter.
Current forecasts suggest profit growth of just 0.8 percent and revenue growth of only 1.2 percent from S&P 500 companies, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
However, investors will focus more on what companies say about the rest of the year, analysts said. The hope is that Friday's strong jobs report and other recent indicators of economic improvement will translate into better earnings in the second half of 2013.
"Investors realize we did not have blockbuster growth in the first half, but they are focused on the quarters ahead," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management. "The stock market is forward-looking."
Leading banks scored outsized gains, including Citigroup (up 2.0 percent) Wells Fargo (up 1.8 percent) and Bank of America (up 1.7 percent). The gains followed a bullish report from Raymond James, which sees stronger asset quality fueling earnings growth in the sector, according to Barrons.com.
Retail giant Walmart also had a good day, rising 2 percent.
Dow component Intel dropped 3.6 percent following a downcast note from Citigroup that predicted weak profits in light of the declining personal computer market.
Alcoa, traditionally first to report quarterly earnings, rose 11 cents (1.4 percent) to US$7.92 during the day and was flat after releasing its second quarter figures, which came in with earnings of 7 cents per share, one cent above expectations. Profits fell from the first quarter due to lower aluminum prices.
Computer company Dell jumped 3.1 percent to US$13.34 after the closely-watched Institutional Shareholders Services advisory group endorsed a proposed transaction led by Dell founder Michael Dell to take the company private. The offer would pay US$13.65 per share.
Thomson Reuters rose 0.2 percent after announcing that it would suspend the early release of key economic data to high-speed traders. The move comes in response to an investigation by the New York state attorney general on whether the release of the data gives an unfair advantage to buyers of the high-priced service. -- AFP
The National Transportation Safety Board released dramatic, up-close pictures of the plane that crashed in San Franciso on Saturday. Two people died out of more than 300 on board. (July 8)
SAN FRANCISCO — Asiana Airlines says the pilot of the ill-fated Boeing 777 that crashed here Saturday had little experience flying the aircraft and was landing one for the first time when it slammed into the runway, killing two passengers and injuring more than half the 307 aboard.
Airlines spokeswoman Lee Hyomin said Monday that Lee Gang-guk, who was at the controls of Saturday's nearly 10 1/2 hour flight from Seoul as it arrived at SFO, had nearly 10,000 hours flying other planes but only 43 in the 777, a plane she said he still was getting used to flying.
"It was Lee Gang-kuk's maiden flight to the airport with the jet," the spokeswoman said, according to the Associated Press.
The pilot had flown Boeing 747 jets into San Francisco's airport previously, she said, and was assisted on this flight by deputy pilot, Lee Jeong-min. South Korean transport official said the deputy had about 12,390 hours of flying experience, including 3,220 on the 777.
Two other pilots were aboard the plane, rotating at the controls during the long flight.
South Korea and U.S investigators have wrapped up interviews with the four pilots. Korean officials say pinpointing an exact cause of the crash may take months, or years. "We cannot conclude the accident was caused by a pilot mistake. Whether there was a pilot mistake can be confirmed after all related data are analyzed and inspected," said Choi Jeong-ho, the head of South Korea's transport ministry aviation policy bureau.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said Sunday that Flight 214 was traveling well below its target speed for landing when it crashed short of the runway Saturday. "The speed was significantly below 137 knots, and we're not talking a few knots," she said.
After the initial impact, the plane's tail section was ripped off, coming to rest hundreds of feet from the main body of the aircraft, which burst into flames.
Remarkably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived and more than a third didn't even require hospitalization. At least 168 people were treated for injuries. Eight remained in critical condition Monday.
The flight, which originated in Shanghai before stopping in Seoul en route to San Francisco, carried 61 U.S. citizens, 77 South Koreans and 141 Chinese.
It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airline in the USA since February 2009.
San Mateo County coroner Robert Foucrault said his office was investigating whether one of the two Chinese teenage girls killed in the crash had been run over on the runway by a rescue vehicle. An autopsy was to be completed Monday.
Hersman said investigators will look at all possibilities for the cause of the crash, including pilot error. "Everything is on the table," she said.
She provided details of what investigators found in their initial review of the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders: "The approach proceeds normally as they descend. There is no discussion of any aircraft anomalies or concerns with the approach. A call from one of the crewmembers to increase speed was made approximately seven seconds prior to impact."
The "stick shaker," which gives an audible and motion signal warning that the plane is flying too slowly and is about to stall, sounds "approximately four seconds prior to impact."
The pilot requested a "go-around" — to abort the landing, fly around the airport and try again, Hersman said.
"A call to initiate a go-around occurred 1.5 seconds before impact," she said.
Cabin manager Lee Yoon-hye, 40, said she has nearly 20 years' experience with Asiana and knew seconds before impact that something was wrong with the plane.
"Right before touchdown, I felt like the plane was trying to take off. I was thinking, 'What's happening?' and then I felt a bang," Lee said. "That bang felt harder than a normal landing. It was a very big shock. Afterward, there was another shock and the plane swayed to the right and to the left."
Lee, who was apparently the last person to leave the burning plane, said crewmembers deflated the slides with axes to rescue their colleagues, one of whom seemed to be choking beneath the weight of a slide.
One flight attendant put a scared elementary schoolboy on her back and slid down a slide,Lee said. A pilot helped another injured flight attendant off the plane after passengers escaped.
Lee, who suffered a broken tailbone, told reporters she worked to put out fires and usher passengers to safety in the harrowing moments after the plane went down.
Lee said she tried to approach the back of the aircraft before she left to doublecheck that no one was left inside. But a cloud of black, toxic smoke made it impossible. "It looked like the ceiling had fallen down," she said.
The two teen girls who died are Ye Mengyuan and Wang Linjia, from China's eastern Zhejiang province, according to China Central TV. They were among a group of 29 middle-school students and five teachers heading for a summer camp in the USA. Their bodies were found outside the plane, which had come to rest between runways.
They were headed to a three-week stay in Los Angeles at a church school in the San Fernando Valley, West Valley Christian School administrator Derek Swales said.
Vedpal Singh, who was sitting in the middle of the aircraft and survived the crash with his family, said there was no warning from the pilot or any crewmembers before the plane touched down hard and he heard a loud sound.
"We knew something was horrible wrong," said Singh, who suffered a fractured collarbone and had his arm in a sling. "It's miraculous we survived."
Passenger Benjamin Levy, 39, said it looked to him as though the plane was flying too low and too close to the bay as it approached the runway. Levy, who was sitting in an emergency exit row, said he felt the pilot try to lift the jet up before it crashed and thinks the maneuver might have saved some lives.
"Everybody was screaming. I was trying to usher them out," he recalled of the first seconds after the landing. "I said, 'Stay calm, stop screaming, help each other out, don't push.' "
Welch reported from Los Angeles and Stanglin from McLean, Va. Contributing: Gary Strauss in McLean, Va., Calum MacLeod in Beijing, Nancy Blair and Scott Martin in San Francisco, and Nancy Blair, USA TODAY; Associated Press
CAIRO – At least 50 people were killed and more than 300 injured Monday in clashes outside a military building in Cairo, according to Egypt's head of emergency services.
Reuters is reporting that as many as 435 people have been injured as a result of the violence.
Eyewitnesses tell Fox News that Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were fired upon with birdshot and rounds from automatic weapons at around 5:30 a.m. local time, during morning prayers. Fox News sources who were at the scene shortly after the shooting described seeing Muslim Brotherhood supporters with large chest wounds and fatal gunshot wounds in their backs.
The Muslim Brotherhood have blamed the attacks on the Egyptian military who were standing guard over the demonstration near to the Raba El Adwyia mosque.
Monday's fighting caused the highest death toll since massive protests forced Morsi's government from power last week and established an interim civilian administration.
The interim administration issued a statement on the state news agency Monday expressing regret for the bloodshed in Cairo, according to Reuters. The statement said the violence was the result of an attempt by protesters to attack the Republican Guard building and asked protesters not to approach any military "or other vital installations." Transitional administration officials also said they formed a judicial committee to investigate the incident.
There were conflicting reports on how the fighting began, with Morsi's supporters saying it was an unprovoked attack and the military saying they came under assault first.
A source tells Fox News that one army officer was killed and 40 soldiers were injured when armed personnel tried to break into the Republican Guard Headquarters—where the source claims former President Mohammed Morsi is not being held.
The source also denied that pro-Morsi protesters were staging the sit-in nearby and said the army will release a full version of events later on Monday.
The military are blaming the attacks on so-called "terrorist" groups. Late Sunday night military helicopters dropped leaflets on pro-Morsi protesters in the Cairo university area calling on Morsi followers and terrorists to end their protests.
A presidency spokesman said Monday's violence will not derail efforts to form a new interim government. "What happened will not stop steps to form a government, or the (political) roadmap," said Ahmed Elmoslmany, according to a Reuters report.
Al Nour, Egypt's second-most prominent Islamist party after the Muslim Brotherhood, has said it will withdraw from negotiations with the interim government and the Muslim Brotherhood has called for its supporters to "rise up" against those who want to steal the revolution.
The military-- which effectively supported the anti-Morsi movement-- now may face pressure to impose stricter security measures to try to keep unrest from spilling out of control. It will also have to produce compelling evidence to support its version of events or otherwise suffer what is already shaping to be a Brotherhood media blitz to portray the military as a brutal institution with little regard for human life or democratic values.
In a move that is likely to further inflame the situation, the Freedom and Justice party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, called on Egyptians to rise up against the army. Morsi has been a longtime leader of the Brotherhood.
Liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei expressed dismay at the bloodshed, sending a message on Twitter that read "Violence begets violence and should be strongly condemned. Independent Investigation a must. Peaceful transition is only way."
Satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera showed footage from a nearby field hospital of at least six dead bodies laid out on the ground, some with severe wounds. A medic from the area, Hesham Agami, said ambulances were unable to transport more than 200 wounded to hospitals because the military had blocked off the roads.
Al-Shaimaa Younes, who was at the sit-in, said military troops and police forces opened fire on the protesters during early morning prayers. "They opened fire with live ammunition and lobbed tear gas," she said by telephone. "There was panic and people started running. I saw people fall."
Women and children had been among the protesters, she said.
Morsi supporters have been holding rallies and a sit-in outside the Republican Guard building since the military deposed Morsi last week during massive protests against him. The military chief replaced Morsi with an interim president, until presidential elections are held. But Morsi's supporters refuse to recognize the change in leadership and insist Morsi be reinstated. Besides the Republican Guard sit-in, they are also holding thousands-strong daily rallies at a nearby mosque.
Morsi's opponents are also holding rival rallies. They say the former president lost his legitimacy by mismanaging the country and not ruling democratically, leading to a mass revolt that called on the army to push him from office.
Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said initial information indicates that gunmen affiliated with the Brotherhood tried to storm the Republican Guard building shortly after dawn, firing live ammunition and throwing firebombs from a nearby mosque and rooftops. One police officer on the scene was killed, he said. Another military spokesman, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said five from the Brotherhood side were killed.
A statement by the armed forces published on the state news agency said "an armed terrorist group" tried to storm the Republican Guard building, killing one officer and seriously injuring six. The statement said the forces arrested 200 attackers, armed with guns and ammunition.
After declaring the ouster of Morsi last Wednesday, the Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi replaced him with Egypt's chief justice and suspended the constitution until new presidential elections.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.