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The NASDAQ Composite rose Thursday as Tesla shares surged on the back of better-than-expected earnings results. Tech stocks also got a boost from a softer U.S. dollar.
The Dow Jones Industrials fought its way into positive country, gaining 162.06 points by the close to 32,036.90.
The S&P 500 picked up 39.05 points, or 1%, to 3,998.95.
The NASDAQ vaulted 161.96 points, or 1.4%, to 12,059.61.
The NASDAQ is set for a gain this week, up about 5.3% thus far. Meanwhile, the Dow is nearly 2.4% higher for the week, while the S&P 500 gained 3.5%.
Consumer discretionary stocks led gains in the S&P 500, up more than 2% on the back of Tesla shares. The automaker surged 9.8% after it reported stronger-than-expected results despite shrinking automotive gross margins. Shares are still down nearly 23% this year.
AT&T dropped 7.6% after lowering its full-year free cash flow guidance. Still, the telecommunications company exceeded expectations in its second quarter.
American Airlines fell 7.4% after cutting back on growth plans despite reporting earnings mostly in line with expectations. Still, the company forecast a profit in the third quarter.
United Airlines’ results came in below expectations, pushing the stock down 10.2%.
Carnival dropped 11.2% after the cruise company announced that it was selling an additional $1 billion of stock.
Snap is expected to report after the bell.
Roughly 18% of S&P 500 have reported earnings for the second quarter. Of those companies, about 71% have beaten expectations, according to FactSet.
Inflationary pressures continued to loom on Wall Street after a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week showed that producer prices in June jumped to a near-record amount from a year ago because of a rise in energy costs.
On the economic front, initial jobless claims continued their upward trend and touched their highest level since November 2021. Initial claims climbed to 251,000 for the week of July 16, up from an adjusted 244,000 claims from the prior week, in its third straight weekly gain.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank on Thursday raised interest rates for the first time in 11 years to combat inflation in the euro zone. The central bank raised benchmark rates by 50 basis points.
Treasury prices moved sharply higher, lowering yields to 2.90%, from Wednesday’s 3.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $3.48 to $96.40 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices soared $18.00 to $1,718.20 U.S. an ounce.
