The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gained on Thursday, driven by Tesla’s positive earnings forecast and a decline in Treasury yields from a three-month high, which buoyed market sentiment despite declines from some corporate results. The Dow and TSX ended lower.
Shares of Tesla soared 21.9%, with the EV-maker adding more than US$140 billion to its market capitalization, after it reported robust third-quarter profits and surprised investors with a prediction of 20% to 30% sales growth next year. This helped take the Consumer Discretionary sector 3.24% higher.
“It was a blowout from the perspective of Tesla,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.
The benchmark S&P posted its first daily gain this week. However, sentiment was somewhat shaky. Most of the S&P sectors were in the red, as other earnings reports and pressure from lower, but still high, Treasury yields weighed.
The yield on the benchmark U.S.10-year Treasury note eased on the day, at 4.20%, after reaching a three-month high the day before. It went as high as 4.26% in Wednesday’s session, which saw all three major equity indexes lose ground.
“In the near term, the greatest influence we’ve seen in stocks in October has been the move higher in rates. From a 10-year Treasury below 4% to where we stand now has been relatively quickly,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
Earnings announced before the bell include IBM, which lost 6.17% after missing third-quarter revenue estimates, while Honeywell declined 5.10% after it forecast annual sales below estimates, with both weighing on the blue-chip Dow.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.59 points, or 0.33%, to 42,374.36, the S&P 500 gained 12.44 points, or 0.21%, to 5,809.86 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 138.83 points, or 0.76%, to 18,415.49.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 22.07 points, or 0.1%, at 24,551.55, extending its pullback from a record closing high on Friday. It was the longest daily losing streak since September.
“It’s one of those weeks where no one is interested in buying stocks,” said Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer at Baskin Wealth Management. “We’re waiting for the earnings to start to come out for the Canadian companies.”
Some of Canada’s major energy companies, such as Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, are due to report next week. Bank earnings are due in December.
The materials sector fell 0.7% as Teck Resources Ltd beat third-quarter profit estimates but cut its full-year copper production forecast.
Teck’s shares lost 5.4%, while shares of Rogers Communications were down 1.6% as the company missed market expectations for third-quarter wireless subscriber additions.
The Bank of Canada has cut its benchmark interest rate by 125 basis points since June to 3.75%, including a larger-than-usual half-percentage-point reduction on Wednesday. Still, Canadian bond yields have moved higher in recent weeks, tracking an upward shift in U.S. rates.
The TSX utilities sector, which contains many high-dividend paying stocks, was down 0.6% on Thursday.
In contrast, technology rose 1.3%, benefiting from an 18.3% jump in the shares of Celestica Inc after the company reported third-quarter results.
In the U.S. market, materials dropped 1.42%, dragged down by Newmont as higher costs and weaker Nevada output saw it miss profit estimates.
Boeing also lost 1.18% after factory workers voted on Wednesday to reject a contract offer and continue a more than five-week-long strike.
Southwest Airlines lost 5.56% after earnings and after the company reached an agreement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
On a brighter note, UPS added 5.28% after the parcel service provider reported a rise in third-quarter profit, on rebounding volumes and cost cuts.
Of the 159 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results this earnings season, 78.6% have beaten analyst expectations, according to data compiled by LSEG.
On the economic front, S&P Global’s flash PMI data showed U.S. business activity increased in October, amid strong demand. Weekly jobless claims also fell unexpectedly for the week ended Oct. 19.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.25-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 137 new highs and 49 new lows on the NYSE. The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 89 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.06 billion shares, compared with the 11.59 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Reuters, Globe staff