The Nasdaq Composite achieved a historic closing high on Tuesday as investors analyzed the latest round of corporate earnings and economic indicators. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted towards technology, advanced by 0.8% to finish at 18,712.8. In contrast, the S&P 500 saw a modest increase of 0.2%, closing at 5,832.9, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 0.4% to close at 42,233.1.
Among various sectors, only communication services and technology experienced gains, with utilities suffering the largest declines. In company-specific news, Cadence Design Systems ($CDNS) experienced a notable surge in its share price, soaring nearly 13% and becoming the top performer on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
Late on Monday, the company revised its full-year outlook upward, increasing the lower end of its earnings and revenue guidance following a Q3 performance that exceeded expectations. Incyte ($INCY) achieved the second-largest gain in the S&P 500, up 12%, after it reported a Q3 revenue that surpassed projections.
Conversely, shares of Ford Motor ($F) fell by 8.4%, making it the second-worst performer on the S&P 500. This drop followed news from British union Unite, indicating that Ford’s UK workers would commence a strike starting Wednesday due to failed labor negotiations. Additionally, Ford mentioned that it anticipates adjusted consolidated earnings before interest and taxes to reach $10 billion for the year 2024, at the lower end of its previous guidance range of $10 billion to $12 billion. Payment giant PayPal ($PYPL) lost 4% to become the worst performer on the Nasdaq after the company reported Q3 revenue growth that fell short of expectations, even though its earnings growth exceeded analyst predictions. On the bond market front, the US two-year yield declined by 3.1 basis points to 4.11%, while the 10-year yield decreased by 1.4 basis points to 4.26%. From an economic perspective, US consumer confidence rose more than anticipated this month, accompanied by a slight increase in the annual inflation outlook, as noted by the Conference Board.
"Consumer confidence recorded the strongest monthly gain since March 2021, but still did not break free of the narrow range that has prevailed over the past two years," stated Conference Board Chief Economist Dana Peterson. Job openings in the US saw a decline last month, while separations increased along with a rise in layoffs, according to government data.
On Friday, it is expected that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will announce the addition of 111,000 jobs in October, indicating a slowdown from September's increase of 254,000. The housing market also showed activity, with US home prices climbing to a new record high in August. However, the rate of annual growth slowed to its lowest level since mortgage rates peaked last year, as reported by S&P Global's division, S&P Dow Jones Indices. Additionally, the Federal Housing Finance Agency revealed that home prices increased by 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis in August, compared to a revised gain of 0.2% for the previous month.
This result was above the consensus expectation of a 0.1% rise according to a Bloomberg survey. In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased by 0.3%, settling at $67.21 per barrel on Tuesday. Precious metals also showed an upward trend, with gold rising 1.1% to $2,784.80 per troy ounce and silver increasing by 1.8% to $34.63 per ounce..