Stock market today: Wall Street rises to soften the blow of its 3rd straight losing month

The S&P 500 gained 26.98 points, or 0.6%, to 4,193.80, a day after clawing back a bigger chunk of its loss for October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 123.91 points, or 0.4%, to 33,052.87, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 61.75 points, or 0.5%, to 12,851.24.

Most stocks ended up climbing after indexes swayed between small gains and losses through the morning, and more than 80% of the stocks in the S&P 500 strengthened.

Pinterest jumped 19% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It cited growth in users around the world, with Europe particularly strong.

Arista Networks was one of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward and climbed 14% after also reporting stronger profit for the summer than Wall Street forecast. Analysts raised their estimates for future growth following the report on expectations the company will benefit from the artificial-intelligence boom.

The majority of big U.S. companies reported stronger profit for the summer than expected, and Caterpillar also joined them. But the heavy machinery maker’s stock sank 6.7% after analysts focused on a slowdown in orders and growing inventories at dealers.

JetBlue Airways tumbled 10.5% after it reported a worse loss for the summer than expected. It said demand for travel is still strong during peak periods, but the industry has too many seats chasing after too few passengers during off-peak times. It also called the magnitude of air-traffic control and weather-related delays “staggering.”

VF Corp., the company behind Vans, Timberlands and other brands, dropped 14% after it reported weaker profit than expected. It also slashed its dividend 70% and withdrew its forecasts for revenue and profit this fiscal year.

Even though the big companies in the S&P 500 appear to be on track to report higher earnings for the first time in a year, the main index of Wall Street’s health still closed October with a loss of 2.2% for the month. That’s its third straight monthly drop.

A big reason for the weakness has been the swift rise in Treasury yields in the bond market.

The 10-year Treasury yield jumped from less than 3.50% during the spring to more than 5% recently, touching its highest level since 2007. Higher yields knock down prices for stocks and other investments while slowing the overall economy.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to 4.90% from 4.89% late Monday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%, an outlier among losses across much of Asia amid worries about China’s economic strength. Stocks indexes in Europe were modestly higher.