Wall Street Buoys On Brexit And Earnings

US markets have closed moderately higher after Britain and the EU announced a new Brexit deal and Netflix and Morgan Stanley gained on solid earnings.

The Dow Jones added 24 points or 0.1 percent to 27,025. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 2,997, while the Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent to 8,156.

Analysts welcomed news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reached an agreement with European Union leaders on a divorce deal. Markets shrugged off opposition to the deal from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which could potentially sink the agreement.

Alan Skrainka of Cornerstone Wealth Management acknowledged there were doubts about the deal's prospects but said "this is really the first tangible sign of progress we've had in some time".

Besides Brexit and developments in the grinding US-China trade war, investors have been focused on corporate earnings this week.

The latest batch of results were mixed, with IBM diving 5.5 percent after reporting a 4 percent drop in revenue to US$18. billion.

But Netflix gained 2.5 percent as it reported a 65 percent increase in quarterly profits to $665 million and executives expressed confidence despite increased competition from Disney, Apple and others in video streaming.

Morgan Stanley advanced 1.5 percent after reporting a 2.9 percent increase in quarterly earnings to $2.2 billion, due in part to a strong performance in its trading division.

Among other companies reporting results, Alcoa surged 6.0 percent and Honeywell International gained 2.4 percent. (AFP)