In a noteworthy turn for the financial markets, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both saw upward movement intraday, significantly supported by a post-earnings rally in Tesla shares. As of midday Thursday, the technology-heavy Nasdaq experienced a 0.6% increase, reaching 18,387.1, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.2% to settle at 5,806.6.
Conversely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average faced a decline of 0.4%, bringing it down to 42,365.4. Sector performance revealed that consumer discretionary emerged as the leading gainer, whereas the materials sector encountered the most significant drop. In corporate developments, Tesla shares surged nearly 21%, making it the top performer on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indices.
The electric vehicle manufacturer reported that its third-quarter earnings had unexpectedly risen year over year, although its revenue failed to meet the expectations set by Wall Street analysts. Tesla's management indicated an expectation for "slight growth" in vehicle deliveries for the current year, an adjustment from earlier forecasts that suggested a potential decline in vehicle volume on an annual basis. Another notable performer was Molina Healthcare, which recorded a 20% rise, positioning it as the second-highest gainer intraday on the S&P 500 following the announcement of robust third-quarter results. On the other hand, IBM faced challenges with its shares decreasing by 6.4% intraday, marking the steepest decline on the Dow.
The technology firm had reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street's expectations, yet its revenue lagged behind due to downturns in its consulting and infrastructure divisions. Meanwhile, Newmont shares fell sharply, experiencing a 15% decline, thus becoming the worst performer on the S&P 500 due to disappointing third-quarter results released late Wednesday. In addition to these companies, several others are scheduled to announce their results after Thursday's market close, including Arthur J.
Gallagher, Capital One Financial, L3Harris Technologies, DexCom, and Deckers Outdoor. In fixed-income markets, the US 10-year yield decreased by 5.6 basis points to settle at 4.19%, while the two-year yield also fell, losing 3.7 basis points to 4.05%. From an economic perspective, new-home sales in the United States exceeded expectations last month.
Additionally, the median prices at a national level saw sequential and year-over-year increases, as per recent government data. Notably, Oxford Economics remarked that Hurricane Helene had no perceptible impact on sales in the South. The US private-sector output showed expansion in October, while the year-ahead outlook reached a impressive 29-month high, as reported by S&P Global's flash purchasing managers' index.
Chief Business Economist Chris Williamson stated, "Companies hope that a stabler post-election environment is more conducive to growth. This is especially so in the manufacturing sector, where factories hope that the current soft patch in production and sales will reverse as the uncertainty caused by the political environment passes." In a weekly update on labor market trends, applications for unemployment insurance decreased in the past week; however, continuing claims rose to their highest level since November 2021 per government data. On the commodities front, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices dipped 0.8%, priced at $70.19 per barrel intraday.
Meanwhile, gold saw a modest increase, rising by 0.7% to $2,749.40 per troy ounce, whereas silver experienced a slight decrease of 0.1%, settling at $33.79 per ounce..