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The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped to a record on Wednesday as investor sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected earnings reports and a new record for bitcoin.
The 30-stock index headed higher 152.03 points to 35,609.34.
The S&P 500 heightened 16.56 points to 4,536.19,
The NASDAQ Composite went against the tide, though, and lost 7.41 points to 15,121.68.
Netflix posted its hotly-anticipated third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday after the market closed, with the streaming giant adding 4.4 million subscribers during the period. Wall Street analysts expected 3.84 million additions. However, the shares, which are up 20% in the last three months, were down more than 2%.
Deutsche Bank downgraded Netflix after the report, saying its stock valuation was hard to justify with revenue growth set to slow next year. The firm also said strong fourth quarter subscriber additions are already baked into the stock.
United Airlines also posted quarterly results after the bell on Tuesday, with the company beating analyst expectations on the top and bottom line amid an ongoing rebound in travel demand. United shares retreated slightly Wednesday.
Ford shares were up 4% after Credit Suisse upgraded the auto company on its EV shift and predicted a 30% rally in the stock.
PayPal lost almost 5% on a report that it could buy the social media company Pinterest. Pinterest shares soared more than 12%.
More than 70 S&P 500 components report earnings this week. IBM, Tesla, CSX and Las Vegas Sands are among the names set to report after the market closes.
Bitcoin rose as high as $66,893 Wednesday, a new all-time high for the cryptocurrency, following comments by one expert calling bitcoin his preferred inflation hedge over gold.
Bitcoin has been climbing for four weeks amid positive regulatory developments and the anticipation of the first bitcoin-linked ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which began trading Tuesday.
The bitcoin rally is a signal of a strong risk-on environment, according to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, who also said the market could still rally more than 6% by the end of the year despite the "jagged year of progress" it’s had. He upped his S&P 500 price target 100 points to 4,800, citing declining COVID cases and economic resilience.
Prices for 10-yearTreasurys fell, raising yields to 1.65% from Tuesday’s 1.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.29 to $84.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $15.50 to $1,786.00 U.S. an ounce.
