US benchmark equity indexes showed a mixed performance intraday as traders assessed the latest round of corporate earnings while anticipating financial results from Alphabet. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% to 18,710.3 after midday Tuesday, with the S&P 500 climbing 0.3% to 5,839. Conversely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2% to 42,299.1.
Among the sectors, communication services led the gainers, while utilities and energy experienced the most significant declines. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is set to release its quarterly financial results following Tuesday's closing bell, alongside other notable companies such as Visa, Advanced Micro Devices, Stryker, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. In company news, Cadence Design Systems saw its shares surge nearly 13% intraday, emerging as the top performer on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The surge came after the company tightened its full-year outlook, raising the lower end of its earnings and revenue guidance following a stronger-than-expected third quarter. Incyte also experienced substantial gains, climbing 11% on the S&P 500 intraday after reporting third-quarter revenue that exceeded analyst expectations. Conversely, D.R.
Horton reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that fell short of expectations, prompting a gloomy revenue outlook for the first quarter and 2025. This led to an 8.7% drop in the homebuilder's shares, marking the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500. On the Nasdaq, PayPal emerged as the worst performer, with shares down 3.7%.
Although the digital payments company reported third-quarter revenue growth, it was below expectations, even as earnings growth surpassed analysts' forecasts. PayPal did, however, enhance its full-year earnings expectations. The US 10-year yield rose by 1.4 basis points to 4.29% intraday, while the two-year rate slipped 1.1 basis points to 4.13%. In economic developments, US job openings dropped to 7.44 million in September from 7.86 million the month prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This figure contrasted with the consensus forecast of 8 million according to a survey by Bloomberg. Additionally, US consumer confidence increased significantly to 108.7 this month from 99.2 in September, as reported by the Conference Board. This reading exceeded the anticipated 99.5 from a Bloomberg poll. "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," noted Conference Board Chief Economist Dana Peterson. In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.3% to $67.16 a barrel.
Gold prices increased by 1% to $2,782.10 per troy ounce, while silver rose 1.5% to $33.86 per ounce..