S&P hits record as earnings season rolls

United, P&G among winners in beating analysts’ forecasts

NEW YORK — The S&P 500 climbed to another record Tuesday as earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies picked up the pace.

The index rose 14.17 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,864.60. The Nasdaq composite also climbed, up 65.66, or 0.4 percent, to 15,425.94. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 96.36 points, or 0.3 percent, a day after topping 38,000 for the first time. It finished at 37,905.45.

Procter & Gamble climbed 4.1 percent after posting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company behind Charmin and Olay benefited from price hikes for its products, and it raised its forecast for profit for this full fiscal year.

United Airlines flew 5.3 percent higher after it also reported stronger profit for the last three months of 2023 than analysts expected.

They helped offset an 11 percent tumble for 3M after it gave a forecast for earnings this upcoming year that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The maker of Post-it notes and Command strips was the main reason the Dow dropped from its record.

Earnings season is kicking into gear, and more than a dozen companies in the S&P 500 reported their latest quarterly results Tuesday. More than 50 are scheduled to follow up later this week.

Among Tuesday’s headliners was Verizon Communications, which rose

6.7 percent after beating analysts’ profit estimates. General Electric also topped expectations, but its stock slipped 1 percent after it gave a forecast for profit this quarter that fell short of analysts’ forecasts.

Homebuilder D.R. Horton sank 9.2 percent after reporting weaker profit than expected.

Expectations are relatively low for companies’ profits at the end of 2023.

Stocks have nevertheless rallied to records, mostly on expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year after hiking them the past two years.

Treasury yields have eased since the autumn on expectations for coming rate cuts, though critics warn traders may have gone overboard again in forecasting how many cuts will come and how soon the Fed will start.

Yields were mixed in the bond market Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14 percent from 4.11 percent late Monday, though it remains well below its 5 percent level during October.