NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Dow edged lower on Thursday as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases globally sapped appetite for stocks, while market participants digested earnings from US airlines and AT&T, along with mixed readings on economic data.
Investor sentiment gradually improved by early afternoon, with seven of the 11 main S&P 500 sectors rising. The S&P 500 healthcare sector hit a fresh record high, while industrials were the biggest gainers.
American Airlines Group Inc and Southwest Airlines Co reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, signalling a revival in travel demand. The performance of their shares was mixed though, with Southwest rising 1.5% and American Airlines falling 0.7%.
Shares of AT&T Inc jumped 4.3% after the company’s wireless subscriber additions trounced analysts’ estimates.
At 12:05 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 64.28 points, or 0.19%, at 34,073.03, the S&P 500 was down 1.51 points, or 0.04%, at 4,171.91 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 29.57 points, or 0.21%, at 13,979.79.
Comments
Comments are closed.