- Tesla shares rise as earnings beat expectations
- AT&T drags down the communications services sector
- Amazon and Apple rise ahead of July 28 earnings
- Energy stocks lead the sectoral declines
- Indexes up: Dow 0.51%, S&P 500 0.99%, Nasdaq 1.36%
July 21 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Thursday, boosted by a late-afternoon rally and gains in heavyweight growth stocks, including Tesla.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.4% to lead the gains, while the S&P 500 closed at its highest level since June 9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%.
Shares of Tesla ( TSLA.O ) rose 9.8% after the electric vehicle maker posted better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday afternoon. The gains helped offset declines in telecom and energy stocks, while AT&T Inc ( TN ) fell, sending telecom shares lower after the wireless carrier cut its cash flow forecast cash saying that some subscribers were delaying paying their bills. Energy stocks fell on low crude prices. Read more
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“The earnings picture may have been a little better than investors feared,” said J. Bryant Evans, investment adviser and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management. “Investors are thinking that … especially the technology (sector) has gone too low. and maybe there are some opportunities for valuation.”
Amazon ( AMZN.O ) and Apple ( AAPL.O ) each rose 1.5 percent, and both companies will report earnings on July 28.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 162.06 points, or 0.51%, to 32,036.9, the S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 39.05 points, or 0.99%, to to 3,998.95 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 161.9 points. 1.36%, up to 12,059.61.
Nine of the S&P 500’s 11 major sectors closed in positive territory, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD), health care (.SPXHC) and information technology (.SPLRCT) posting the biggest gains with more than 1% each.
Falling oil prices weighed on the S&P 500’s (.SPNY) energy sector, which fell 1.7% to lead decliners across all sectors.
Market participants continue to anxiously await the US Federal Reserve’s meeting next week, where policymakers are expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points to curb runaway inflation.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
Joining its global peers, the European Central Bank offered a rate hike of 50 basis points to control inflation in its first rate hike since 2011. read more
The Fed’s rate decision next week will be followed by the crucial second-quarter US gross domestic product data, which is likely to turn negative again.
As a common rule of thumb, two-quarters of negative GDP growth would mean the United States is in recession. Read more
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose to an eight-month high, the latest data to fuel fears of a recession. Read more
“Consumers are just beginning to react to less money in their pockets, whether it’s because of the shrinking overall labor market or rising interest rates and inflation,” Evans added.
“Some of the good gains reflect the past strength of consumers, while a lot of this broader decline that we’ve seen … over the past few months has been a slowdown in the broader economy that would ultimately hit consumers.”
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.58 billion shares, compared with the full-session average of 11.63 billion over the past 20 trading days.
Advances outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of 1.77 to 1; on the Nasdaq, a 1.52 to 1 ratio favored the advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week high and 29 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 23 new highs and 46 new lows.
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Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Additional reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Aniruddha Ghosh in Bangalore; Assembly by Aurora Ellis
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