Tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq higher for the second day in a row Thursday, as the broader market wavered.
The Nasdaq ended the day up 0.7%, lifted by Facebook's strong earnings report. A day earlier, Apple's better-than expected earnings also fueled the tech-heavy index.
But investors largely lacked conviction to push the broader market decidedly in any one direction Thursday. In the summer, volumes tend to be light and all three indexes have gained more than 18% so far this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hovered around breakeven with a mixed bag of earnings reports and a pair of tepid economic reports keeping investors sidelined. Both indexes did manage to eke out modest gains at the close.
More than a third of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported second-quarter results so far, according to S&P Capital IQ. As of Thursday morning, 66% had topped analysts' lowered expectations.
The Facebook effect: Shares of Facebook surged 30% Thursday, a day after the social networking site posted strong quarterly results, led by a marked improvement in its mobile business.
"Facebook is the one driving the Nasdaq and [30%] is a powerful, powerful move" said Joseph Saluzzi, a partner at Themis Trading.
The momentum also propelled Zynga during the trading day, with the stock ending up almost 7%. But shares of the app developer, which has games on Facebook, tumbled in after-hours trading after the company issued a weak outlook for the third quarter.
Mixed bag of earnings: Dow Chemical and Tripadvisor reported quarterly profit gains.
General Motors reported an improvement in second-quarter earnings, but a slowdown in China pressured overall profits.
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