U.S. Stocks Traded Mixed on Thursday
U.S. stocks were mostly higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising to log an all-time high. It touched a new record on Thursday, joining the Dow Jones Industrial Average in wiping out a two-month swoon amid strong profits as well as year-end optimism.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.3% to notch a record close of 4,549.78. The S&P 500 also reached an intraday high of 4,551.44. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% to 15,215.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.26 points to close at 35,603.08 dragged down by a steep decline in IBM’s shares.
Tesla helped to boost the S&P 500 thanks to its formidable results. The S&P 500 staged a comeback in October as booming profit reports trumped worries about inflation as well as a potential end to Federal Reserve bond buying. It is now up 1.75% for the week and 5.62% on the month.
Corporate America has so far a robust profit performance for the third quarter of the year, even as higher costs prove to be persistent.
Shares of Tesla rose 3.2% on Thursday. Tesla was not the only company that surpassed expectations. Shares of HP Inc. jumped 6.9% thanks to strong earnings and raised guidance for 2022.
Tech stocks and strong results
Other big tech stocks also played an important role on Thursday, as they helped to lift the market. Netflix shares gained 4.4% and Nvidia added 2.6%.
Outside the tech, the country’s one of the major airlines, American Airlines gained 1.9% after it posted a profit due to federal aid for the third quarter. The company reported a $169 million profit for the third quarter thanks to more than $990 million in federal payroll support.
Revenue for the third quarter totaled $8.97 billion. In the third quarter of 2020, the company’s revenue was $3.17 billion. For the last quarter of the year, American Airlines expects its revenue to decline by about 20% from 2019, when it generated $11.3 billion.
Strong jobs data helped to boost investor sentiment. Jobless claims declined to the lowest level. It fell to a new pandemic low of 290,000 last week.
It was a good day for tech stocks, except for IBM. One day earlier, the company reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue, which sent its shares tumbling 9.5%.
Shares of WeWork advanced 13.4% in their trading debut on Thursday. WeWork went public through a special purpose acquisition company more than two years after its failed IPO.
