US close: Markets mixed as investors sift through earnings
US stocks finished mixed on Thursday, slowing from Wednesday’s gains as investors raked through another batch of earnings and data releases, while the dollar rose.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.16% at 20,100.91, with the Nasdaq 100 adding 0.11% to 5,156.92 and the S&P 500 falling 0.07% to 2,296.68.
On Wednesday, the Dow powered through the 20,000 mark for the first time, closing up 0.8% at 20,068.51, buoyed by some well-received corporate news and optimism over Donald Trump’s policies, including lax regulation, increased infrastructure spending and tax cuts.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “After yesterday’s record breaking session US markets opened in a somewhat mixed manner today with company earnings taking centre stage as weekly jobless claims surprisingly jumped to 259,00 from last week’s 237,000.
“Despite this we’ve still managed to put in new record highs on both the Dow and S&P 500.
“The dollar has enjoyed a bit of a rebound after hitting eight week lows against a basket of currencies, with the Japanese yen amongst the bigger losers today, as yield differentials widen out in the dollars favour.”
Oil prices advanced, with Brent crude up 1.85% at $56.12 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate 1.81% firmer at $53.72.
In corporate news, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was up 1.18% after it reported that fourth quarter profit doubled, whereas Ford Motor was down 3.28% as the carmaker missed profit expectations and softened its outlook for 2017
Comcast, the parent company of NBC Universal, rose 2.81% after it reported that it beat fourth quarter earnings estimates.
Bristol-Myers Squibb fell 5.51% after the drugmaker cut its guidance for the year
Biogen rose 2.07% despite reporting that quarterly revenue fell short of expectations due to costs related to its multiple sclerosis drug.
Caterpillar slipped 0.95% after beating earnings expectations but trimmed its outlook after its losses widened.
Ebay surged 5% after it posted solid earnings late on Wednesday, while telecommunications group AT&T was also in the black by 0.92% after well-received fourth-quarter numbers.
Chip maker Qualcomm slipped 5.01% on the back of a weak second-quarter outlook.
Johnson & Johnson was down 0.85% after it agreed to buy Switzerland’s Actelion for $30bn.
Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Intel and Starbucks, were due to report after the close.
On the data front, initial jobless claims increased by 22,000 to 259,000 in the week ended 21 January, which was below the 245,000 expected.
Claims for the earlier week were revised up to 237,000 from an initial reading of 234,000.
The trade balance, excluding services, fell 0.5% to $65bn in December, while wholesale inventories rose 1%.
IHS Markit’s services purchasing managers’ index rose to 55.1 in January from 53.9 a month earlier, analyst had expected a reading of 54.4.
New home sales fell 10.4% to 536,000 units in December, a 10 month low. November's sales pace was revised up to 598,000 units from an initial 592,000 units.
Analysts had expected a 1.2 drop to 585,000.
Dow Jones - Risers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $77.99 1.72%
Boeing Co. (BA) $169.12 1.05%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $239.50 0.98%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $162.75 0.94%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $64.27 0.93%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $86.80 0.84%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $138.46 0.71%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $118.13 0.39%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $85.60 0.30%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $178.66 0.21%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.12 -1.31%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $97.22 -0.95%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $111.84 -0.85%
Visa Inc. (V) $83.24 -0.79%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.81 -0.74%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $86.60 -0.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $37.56 -0.63%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $116.55 -0.59%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $110.36 -0.54%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.65 -0.39%
S&P 500 - Risers
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $127.06 11.20%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $95.64 9.09%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $53.92 9.02%
Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $305.00 7.61%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $31.74 5.00%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $33.54 4.32%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $48.51 3.81%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $21.18 3.62%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $49.59 3.51%
L3 Technologies Inc (LLL) $155.65 3.18%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $25.99 -17.65%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $173.81 -8.55%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $138.55 -8.31%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $133.72 -8.25%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $75.11 -7.40%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $89.52 -6.50%
Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR) $86.48 -6.44%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $81.51 -6.05%
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $46.82 -5.51%
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW) $70.26 -5.28%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $333.15 7.36%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $44.29 5.38%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $31.74 5.00%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $63.37 4.33%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $49.59 3.51%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $43.90 2.88%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $75.50 2.81%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $30.59 2.65%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $49.33 2.58%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $31.00 2.31%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $25.99 -17.65%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $58.02 -6.77%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $89.52 -6.50%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $81.51 -6.05%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $54.05 -5.01%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $57.37 -3.68%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $340.75 -2.34%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $56.27 -2.22%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $114.33 -2.22%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $111.53 -2.15%