S&P, Nasdaq rally as Apple hits $1 trillion
Stocks posted mixed results Thursday, as traders' concerns about the Trump administration’s proposal to tack on a 25% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports eased and they turned their focus to positive earnings and economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.66 points, or 0.03%, to 25,326.16. The S&P 500 added 13.86 points, closing at 2,827.22.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite again received a boost from Apple, which became the first U.S. company to achieve a $1 trillion market cap. The Nasdaq rallied 95.4 points, or 1.24%, to 7,802.69
Thursday was another busy day for corporate earnings. CBS reported a slightly better profit than expected after the market closed. But investors were focused on hearing from embattled chief executive Leslie Moonves on the media company's earnings call.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 37753.31 | -45.66 | -0.12% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5022.21 | -29.20 | -0.58% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15683.372497 | -181.88 | -1.15% |
DowDuPont and Aetna are among the companies that already reported their latest quarterly earnings. Both surpassed analysts’ expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue.
So far, this has been a stellar earnings season. According to data from Thomson Reuters, companies, on average, experienced 22.7% growth in earnings, with energy sector companies leading the way with 123% growth.
Economic data released pre-bell included jobless claims. Weekly jobless claims increased by 1,000 to 218,000 in the week ended July 28. The weekly jobless claims report comes ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated monthly reading on the U.S. employment sector. After the market open, data on factory orders was released. In June, they rose by 0.7%.
Commodities were mixed but oil was higher.
FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this article.