Wall Street Indexes Halt 3-Day Losses, Tesla Soars 15%

Barry Adams
24 Oct, 2024
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street resumed their upward climb after falling in the previous three consecutive sessions. 

The S&P 500 index added 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% as investors reviewed the fresh batch of earnings. 

Tesla, UPS, Lam Research, and Whirlpool advanced after reporting quarterly results that met or exceeded investor expectations. 

Yield on 10-year Treasury notes edged slightly higher and stayed near a three-month high of 4.24% as investors dialed down their expectations of another aggressive rate cut at the next two-day policy meeting ending on November 7. 

About 170 companies so far in the S&P 500 index have reported quarterly results, and nearly 150 have either met or surpassed analysts' estimates, according to the data compiled by Ticker.com. 

Banks, financial brokers, and industrial and consumer product makers have generally reported higher earnings and sales in their latest quarter. 

About 400 companies are scheduled to report their quarterly results next week. 

Initial weekly jobless claims declined 15,000 to 227,000 during the week ending on October 19, the lowest in three weeks, according to the data released by the Department of Labor. 

Continuing jobless claims, which lags by a week, were 1.897 million, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week's revised level, and rose to the highest level since November 13, 2021, when it was 1.974 million. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.3% to 5,822.36, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 18,380.39, and the Russell 2000 index advanced 0.4% to 2,221.95. 

For the year so far as of Wednesday, the S&P 500 index is up 22.2%, the Nasdaq Composite has advanced 23.8%, and the Russell 2000 index has gained 9.9%. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged higher to 4.07%, 10-year Treasury notes inched up to 4.22%, and 30-year Treasury bonds inched higher to 4.50%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.61 to $71.38 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged up 9 cents to $2.43 a thermal unit.

Gold fell by $17.31 to $2,739.32 an ounce, and silver decreased by $0.17 to $33.97.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged higher to 104.19.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

IBM declined 4.2% to $223.01 after the technology company reported weaker-than-expected revenue in the third quarter. 

Tesla Inc. jumped 15.6% to $249.57 after the electric vehicle maker reported better-than-expected profit in the third quarter. 

Boeing declined 1.9% to $154.15 after workers rejected a wage agreement between the machinists' union and the aviation company, extending the 5-weeklong strike. 

United Parcel Service increased 6.2% to $139.19 after the company reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings and revenue. 

Lam Research Corporation increased 3% to $75.10 after the advanced semiconductor equipment maker's earnings surpassed market expectations.