The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes rose on Thursday, getting a boost from Microsoft and PayPal’s strong earnings, but poor results from 3M pushed the blue-chip Dow Jones index into the red.
The third-quarter earnings season has taken center stage as investors try to gauge the fallout from a drawn out U.S.-China trade war on the domestic economy.
The S&P 500 technology sector traded 1.4% higher, clocking the biggest gain among the 11 major S&P sectors, while the communication services sector fell the most as Twitter Inc tumbled 19% following disappointing quarterly results.
Tech giant Microsoft Corp gained 2% as its outlook for cloud computing services surpassed analysts expectations, while PayPal Holdings Inc rose 7.3% on a strong full-year earnings forecast.
3M Co, however, fell 4% after the industrial conglomerate lowered its full-year profit forecast on weaker demand.
The earnings narrative so far has been fairly positive with over 80% of the 168 S&P 500 companies that have reported results beating profit expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
Data on Thursday was mixed as new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected in September, while a private survey showed higher-than-expected factory activity in the month of October.
At 11:35 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 16.03 points, or 0.06%, at 26,817.92 and the S&P 500 was up 7.91 points, or 0.26%, at 3,012.43.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 64.86 points, or 0.80%, at 8,184.66.
Source : Reuters