Stocks finish mixed as trade war news vies with gloomy Twitter earnings
U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday following some positive movements on the trade front and earnings reports from companies with household names, like Twitter.
China announced it was making some concessions on intellectual property and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said private exporters reported the sale of 264,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China for the 2019/2020 marketing year beginning on Sept. 1.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28 points. or 0.11 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 0.19 percent and 0.81 percent respectively.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 37986.4 | +211.02 | +0.56% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4967.23 | -43.89 | -0.88% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15282.009722 | -319.49 | -2.05% |
Tesla shares zoomed higher after the electric-car maker reported a surprise quarterly profit and record deliveries. The company earned a profit of $143 million, or an adjusted $1.86 a share. Analysts were expecting a loss of 42 cents a share.
Meanwhile, Microsoft gained after its earnings and revenue topped expectations. The strong results were driven by its Azure cloud business, which saw sales increase by 59 percent versus a year ago.
Twitter was under pressure after its third-quarter net income fell to $36.5 million, or 5 cents a share, from $789 million, or $1.02, a year prior. The company said a 57 percent increase in expenses and a lack of major events like the World Cup weighed on ad sales. Daily active users by 21 million to 145 million.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 147.05 | -2.88 | -1.92% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 399.12 | -5.15 | -1.27% |
| TWTR | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
Elsewhere, Dow component 3M fell after missing on the top and bottom lines and cutting its earnings forecast for the year.
Ford shares were weaker after the automaker cut its full-year profit outlook, citing higher warranty costs, bigger discounts, and a 30 percent drop in sales in China.
Amazon shares rallied ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings, which were due out after the closing bell. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting adjusted earnings of $4.62 a share on revenue of $68.8 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMM | 3M CO. | 92.27 | +0.79 | +0.86% |
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 12.14 | +0.08 | +0.66% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 174.63 | -4.59 | -2.56% |
On the commodities front, silver was up 1.34 percent at $17.82 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil was higher by 0.43 percent near $56.20 a barrel.
U.S. Treasurys were little changed, with the 10-year yield holding near 1.765 percent.