Stocks rose Thursday following the latest signal—a stronger-than-expected report on the GDP—that the economy is humming:
- The benchmark S&P 500 rose 25 points, or 0.5%, to 4,894, good for a six-day winning streak and another record-high close, notes CNBC.
- The Dow rose 242 points, or 0.6%, to 38,049.
- The Nasdaq rose 28 points, or 0.1%, to 15,510.
IBM helped lead the market with a gain of 9.3% after it reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, per the AP. Roughly three out of four stocks in the S&P 500 were also rising, but Tesla kept the market's gains in check with a drop of 11.9%. The electric-vehicle maker reported earnings and revenue that fell short of forecasts and warned of notably lower sales growth this year. As one of the largest stocks on Wall Street, its movements carry extra weight on indexes, and it was the heaviest weight by far on the S&P 500.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, earnings season continued to pick up the pace with more than two dozen companies in the S&P 500 reporting results late Wednesday or early Thursday. American Airlines rose 9.7% after reporting profit for the latest quarter that was more than double what analysts were expecting. United Rentals jumped 12.6% after the equipment rental company reported stronger profit than expected, raised its dividend, and said it would buy back $1.5 billion of its stock this year. On the losing end of Wall Street, Humana tumbled 11.2% after the insurer reported worse results for the end of 2023 than expected. Other insurers also dropped, including a 4.9% fall for UnitedHealth Group.
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