Stocks creep upward with new earnings reports

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Wall Street is logging tiny gains early today with earnings season revving up, the Associated Press reports. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.1% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up less than 0.1% higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.2%.

UnitedHealth shares edged up less than 1% after the health insurance giant beat second-quarter expectations but remained cautious on its annual outlook as it continued to eat costs from a massive cyberattack this year.

Dating app company Match Group jumped 7.7% after activist investor Starboard Value announced a 6.6% stake in the company that owns Match, Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid.

Several banks also reported earnings before the bell. Bank of America rose 2% after it beat Wall Street’s revenue and profit targets; PNC shares were stagnant after the Pittsburgh bank beat analyst forecasts; and Morgan Stanley shares fell 3%, even as the company reported its net income, or profit, jumped by 41% year-over-year to $3.1 billion.

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In other dealings early this morning, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $1.36 to $80.55 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up $1.25 to $83.60 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 158.36 Japanese yen from 158.07 yen.

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