Stocks end higher; S&P 500 on the cusp of a record
Solid earnings from health care companies helped send stocks higher on Wall Street Wednesday and pushed the benchmark S&P 500 to the brink of another record high.
The market has been gaining ground as investors shift their focus to the latest round of corporate earnings. Stocks have been choppy for weeks as rising inflation and lackluster economic data raised concerns about the path ahead for the economic recovery.
The S&P 500 rose 16.56 points, or 0.4%, to 4,536.19. It’s the sixth straight gain for the benchmark index and puts it less than a point from the all-time high it set on Sept. 2.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152.03 points, or 0.4%, to 35,609.34. The Nasdaq fell 7.41 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,121.68.
“The reason we’re seeing this rally over the last week is that company earnings are looking really good,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs. “Most companies are managing inflationary pressures and pricing issues, and that’s helping to alleviate concerns about overvaluation and inflation.”
Wall Street cheered solid earnings from a variety of health care companies. Abbott Laboratories, which makes infant formula, medical devices and drugs, rose 3.3% after handily beating analysts’ third-quarter profit forecasts. Health insurer Anthem rose 7.7% after also reporting strong financial results. Technology stocks lagged the broader market.
Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.65% from 1.63% late Tuesday.
Netflix fell 2.2% after forecasting earnings for its current quarter that were below analysts’ estimates.
PayPal fell 4.9% following reports that it is considering buying digital pinboard and shopping tool Pinterest, which jumped 12.8%.
The price of Bitcoin rose above $66,000 for the first time. The gains came a day after the first exchangetraded fund linked to Bitcoin futures attracted huge interest from investors looking to get into the surging field of cryptocurrencies.
Investors are busy reviewing the latest report cards from companies as they try to get a clearer understanding of how rising inflation and the lingering threat from COVID-19 will affect the economy.
Oilfield services company Baker Hughes fell 5.7% after reporting weak third-quarter financial results, partly because of supply chain problems and higher costs. Brinker International, which operates Chili’s Grill & Bar, fell 9.7% after its fiscal first-quarter profit fell far short of analysts’ forecasts as it faces higher commodity and labor costs.
Railroad operator CSX gained ground in after-hours trading after reporting solid financial results, while Tesla slipped after reporting its results.
American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Union Pacific will report on Thursday.
Gold for December delivery rose $14.40 to $1,784.90 an ounce. Silver for December delivery rose 57 cents to $24.45 an ounce, and December copper rose 3 cents to $4.73 a pound.
The dollar fell to 114.21 Japanese yen from 114.31 yen. The euro rose to $1.1656 from $1.1640.