The Dow Jones climbed the first few steps of the ladder today as quarterly results from major Wall Street banks, during the earnings season, have lifted sentiment on the stocks. The Dow was up 1.9%, while the Nasdaq was up 3.4% and the S&P 500 was up 2.7%. Bank of America continued the trend of better-than-expected quarterly results, driven by a high performance in its fixed income business and higher rates that boosted net interest income.

U.S. equities have struggled in September, experts say to better stock valuations entering what is traditionally a stronger period for stocks were also supporting Monday’s rally. Though more interest rate increases from the Fed could be another barrier.

Data on manufacturing in the New York area was weaker than estimated, prompting the idea for the Fed to implement higher interest rates.

Over in the UK, stocks had a strong trading day after Britain’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, scrapped his predecessors proposed tax cuts. “There’s some relief that there’s stability in the Uk financial system” as stated by chief investment officer at NovaPoint, Joseph Sroka. Markets cheered the announcement from Hunt but that was only the first step for the UK.  

Earnings: