The Nasdaq jumped on Thursday, driven by Tesla’s positive earnings forecast, which buoyed market sentiment despite declines from other corporate results and pressure from rising Treasury yields.
Shares of the company soared 19%, with the EV-maker set to add more than $100 billion to its market capitalization, after it reported robust third-quarter profits and surprised investors with a prediction of 20% to 30% sales growth next year.
This helped take the Consumer Discretionary sector 2.7% higher.
“Musk said a lot of things investors wanted to hear - growth rates at double what the Street had, Robotaxi timelines that were a bit ahead of expectations. It puts confidence back in the stock,” said Dennis Dick, trader at Triple D Trading, who holds Tesla shares.
However, sentiment was shaky elsewhere. The S&P 500 pared gains, with nine of its sectors in the red, as other earnings reports and continued pressure from rising Treasury yields weighed.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note eased slightly on the day, but was still trading around its highest since late July. It went as high as 4.26% in Wednesday’s session, which saw all three major equity indexes lose ground.
Other megacap growth stocks reversed early gains, with Nvidia down 0.2% and Apple losing 0.5%.
IBM lost 6.5% after missing third-quarter revenue estimates, while Honeywell’s 4.3% decline after it forecast annual sales below estimates also weighed on the blue-chip Dow.
Wall Street pressured by higher yields, earnings
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 234.37 points, or 0.55%, to 42,280.58, the S&P 500 lost 0.33 points, or 0.01%, to 5,797.09 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 67.23 points, or 0.37%, to 18,343.89.
Materials dropped 1.4%, dragged down byNewmont as higher costs and weaker Nevada output saw it miss profit estimates.
Boeing also lost 2% after factory workers voted on Wednesday to reject a contract offer and continue a more than five-week-long strike.
Stocks have eased from record levels over the past few sessions due to a reassessment of bets on the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts, rising Treasury yields, corporate earnings and uncertainty surrounding the upcoming U.S. election.
The pullback, however, was to be expected, Dick said. “The story is still in tech and (artificial intelligence), and that story is not going away, I would still say dips in tech need to be bought.”
Southwest Airlines lost 3.6% after earnings and after the company reached an agreement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
On a brighter note, UPS added 5.2% after the parcel service provider reported a rise in third-quarter profit, on rebounding volumes and cost cuts.
Of the 159 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results this earnings season, 78.6% have beaten analyst expectations, according to data compiled by LSEG.
On the economic front, S&P Global’s flash PMI data showed U.S. business activity increased in October, amid strong demand. Weekly jobless claims also fell unexpectedly for the week ended Oct. 19.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 57 new highs and 64 new lows.
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