NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ticked up on Thursday, as some upbeat earnings reports brought relief to the markets, while investors awaited US President Donald Trump’s next policy move and a key jobs report.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly rose 4% after the company forecast annual profit largely above estimates, while Coach-parent Tapestry jumped 12.3% on annual sales and profit forecast raise.
Philip Morris International advanced 9.4% after the cigarette maker posted better-than-expected quarterly results and forecast 2025 profit above estimates.
Honeywell fell 6.3% after the industrial and aerospace giant said it would split into three independently listed companies and forecast downbeat sales and profit for 2025. The sharp decline dragged down the Dow.
Amazon.com rose nearly 1% ahead of its quarterly earnings report after the bell, while other rising megacap stocks including Nvidia also aided gains.
Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded higher, with consumer staples and financials leading gains.
At 11:26 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 75.92 points, or 0.17%, to 44,797.36, the S&P 500 gained 14.66 points, or 0.24%, to 6,076.14 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 42.11 points, or 0.21%, to 19,734.44.
Markets saw a dismal start to the week when Trump announced sweeping trade tariffs over the weekend, but suspended the levies on goods from Mexico and Canada on Monday for a month.
Although many uncertainties remain under Trump’s new administration, Wall Street was relieved that things were not worse, particularly with regard to counter-tariffs against the United States from Beijing.
“We are in the calm before the next storm. (Moves) are going to continually be around geopolitics, which is going to raise market volatility,” said Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy from Global X ETFs.
Helfstein said with the Fed expected to hold rates steady, we are entering a market that will be more fundamentally driven, and based on the real economy than sentiment.
The January nonfarm payrolls report is due on Friday, a crucial metric in gauging the state of the labor market and the Federal Reserve’ rate path.
Traders do not expect the Fed to make a move on interest rates in its next meeting in March, but a cut is widely anticipated in June, according to the CME’s FedWatch.
On the data front, the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week.
Skyworks Solutions plunged 23.9% after the Apple supplier forecast declines in revenue in its mobile segment and projected current-quarter profits below estimates.
Qualcomm fell 4.7% as the chip designer’s executives said its lucrative patent-licensing business would not see sales growth this year after a license agreement with Huawei Technologies expired.
Ford Motor lost nearly 6% after the automaker forecast up to $5.5 billion in losses in its electric-vehicle and software operations this year.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.13-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 58 new lows.
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