Records on Wall Street as results allay fears

by Chuck Mikolajczak and Sinéad Carew

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange finished higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq and S & P-500 setting new records in the wake of Apple and Amazon’s gains ahead of the release of their quarterly results, while the solid results of other firms reassured their profitability despite the slowdown in economic growth.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.68%, or 239.79 points, to 35,727.63 points.

The larger S & P-500 gained 44.74 points, or 0.98%, to 4,596.42 points.

The Nasdaq Composite for its part advanced 212.28 points (1.39%) to 15,448.12 points.

After helping push the S & P-500 and the Dow Jones to new heights this week, big tech stocks like Tesla, Apple and Amazon have been the main catalysts for the Nasdaq. The firm at the apple, up 2.5% at the end of the session, and the online commerce giant published their quarterly results after the close.

Caterpillar advanced 4% on the heels of reporting better-than-expected earnings growth in the third quarter.

For its part, Merck jumped 6% in trade after raising its annual profit forecast, citing in particular the recovery in demand for non-COVID vaccines.

Strong quarterly results helped soften the effects of the release of a US Department of Commerce report indicating a sharp slowdown in US economic growth in the third quarter.

Other data released during the day show a decline in weekly jobless claims in the United States.

Investors also kept an eye on Washington, where US President Joe Biden said he had secured an agreement on a new $ 1.750 billion investment plan.

“We’re seeing a macro data set coming in right in the middle of the third quarter earnings season and that gives rise to a kind of struggle, with the macro data appearing to point to a lower margin and company performance turning out to be. better than expected, “said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

The eleven major sectors of the S & P-500 finished in the green, with primarily the industrial sector.

(French version Jean Terzian)