US close: Dow Jones extends winning streak

dl nyse new york stock exchange new york city nyc wall street wall st nasdaq markets trading finance unsplash — Sharecast / David Vives via Unsplash

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as corporate earnings continued to dominate markets.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.44% at 39,056.39, while the S&P 500 was flat at 5,187.67 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.318% weaker at 16,302.76.

The Dow closed 172.13 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session and giving the blue-chip index a sixth straight winning session.

Earnings were again in focus on Wednesday, with ridesharing giant Lyft and hotel operator Wynn Resorts trading higher on the back of stronger-than-expected quarterly results, while Reddit shares rallied following its first earnings as a public company.

Shopify earnings topped estimates but shares still headed south following weaker-than-expected guidance, Uber revealed it had swung to a quarterly loss despite reporting improved quarterly revenues, Airbnb beat on earnings expectations but issued some weak guidance, and AMC also bested projections thanks to the likes of Dune 2 and Kung Fu Panda 4.

On the macro front, mortgage applications rose by 2.6% in the week ended 3 May, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, recovering from a 2.3% decline in the previous week and snapping a two-week-long streak of sharp declines. Applications for mortgages to purchase a new home rose by 1.8%, while applications to refinance a home jumped by 4.5%

Elsewhere, US wholesale inventories decreased by 0.4% month-on-month in March, matching preliminary estimates and following a downwardly revised 0.2% rise in February. Non-durables stocks saw a decrease of 1.1%, mainly on account of farm products, while inventories of durable goods fell 0.1% in March, according to the Census Bureau.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $307.31 2.33%
Boeing Co. (BA) $180.35 2.06%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $195.65 2.03%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $47.99 1.51%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $169.90 0.90%
3M Co. (MMM) $96.35 0.85%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $447.52 0.71%
American Express Co. (AXP) $236.27 0.67%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $278.97 0.65%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $58.65 0.48%