NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Thursday as major technology stocks rose after megacap Alphabet’s robust earnings, while the Dow was weighed down by losses in IBM, UnitedHealth, and Honeywell.
At 11:33 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 gained 15.92 points, or 0.25%, to 6,374.83 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 53.37 points, or 0.25%, to 21,072.20.
Alphabet rose 1.9% after the Google parent raised its 2025 capital spending forecast by $10 billion to $85 billion, shrugging off trade jitters, and reinforcing investors’ confidence in AI investments and returns.
Shares of Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon were up between 0.9% and 1.7%.
Losses in UnitedHealth, IBM and Honeywell weighed on the blue-chip Dow, which fell 0.33% - though it remained close to its December 4 record high.
UnitedHealth lost 3.7%. The insurer revealed it’s cooperating with a Department of Justice probe into its Medicare practices, following reports of both criminal and civil investigations.
IBM dropped 8% as its second-quarter results fell flat with investors, hampered by disappointing sales in its core software division.
Honeywell, meanwhile, dipped 4.6% despite topping Wall Street’s expectations and raising its annual outlook.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla tumbled 9%, as CEO Elon Musk warned of “a few rough quarters” due to cuts in EV incentives. The stock has fallen about 25% for the year so far.
“Tesla was declining in terms of its core business, which is automobiles, prior to his (Elon Musk) political involvement,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital.
“Deliveries were going down, demand was going down and he took his eye off the ball and now it’s gone down a lot.”
On the trade front, an EU spokesperson hinted that a deal was “within reach”—one that could slap a broad 15% tariff on imports across the 27-member bloc, according to diplomats.
Meanwhile, fresh signs of progress emerged after President Donald Trump struck an agreement with Japan, slicing tariffs on Japanese goods to 15%. China and South Korea are also scrambling to clinch their own deals and sidestep Trump’s hefty duties.
Some of Wall Street’s heavyweights were starting to feel the sting of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. American Airlines fell 9.2% after forecasting a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss, hurt by sluggish domestic travel demand.
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