US stocks edge higher as focus shifts to corporate earnings

Major US equity indices built on the overnight up-move and opened higher on Tuesday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rising for the fourth consecutive day.

Investors tried to shake off lingering concerns over a full-blown global trade war and seemed taking cues from the incoming strong economic data, which have been pointing to the underlining strength of the US economy. 

Adding to this, expectations of strong corporate results, evident from the market reaction to PepsiCo's better-than-expected quarterly earnings report, remained supportive of the prevailing bullish sentiment.  

A trio of big banks - J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo – will announce their results on Friday and might set the near-term tone for the markets. 

During the opening hour of trade, DJIA jumped nearly 120-points to 24,895 and the broader S&P 500 Index climbed over 6-points to 2,790. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index underperformed the broader markets and added only 5-points to 7,760.