S&P 500, Nasdaq Move Higher After Mixed Earnings; Dow lags

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Thursday, as investors sifted through a patchwork of earnings from megacaps like Alphabet and Tesla, while the Dow was weighed down by losses in UnitedHealth and IBM.

At 9:46 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 (.SPX), gained 10.62 points, or 0.17%, to 6,369.85 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), gained 66.26 points, or 0.33%, to 21,086.27.

Alphabet (GOOGL.O), rose 1.9% after the Google parent raised its 2025 capital spending forecast by $10 billion to $85 billion, shrugging off trade jitters, while electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA.O), tumbled 7.6% as CEO Elon Musk warned of “a few rough quarters” due to cuts in EV incentives.

Losses in UnitedHealth (UNH.N), IBM (IBM.N), and Honeywell weighed on the blue-chip Dow (.DJI), which fell 0.6% -though it remained close to its December 4 record high.

UnitedHealth lost 2.3%. The insurer revealed it’s cooperating with a Department of Justice probe into its Medicare practices, following reports of both criminal and civil investigations.

IBM sank 9.5% as its second-quarter results fell flat with investors, hampered by disappointing sales in its core software division.

Honeywell, meanwhile, dipped 5.2% despite topping Wall Street’s expectations and raising its annual outlook.

On the trade front, an EU spokesperson hinted that a deal was “within reach”—one that could slap a broad 15% tariff on imports across the 27-member bloc, according to diplomats.

Meanwhile, fresh signs of progress emerged after President Donald Trump struck an agreement with Japan, slicing tariffs on Japanese goods to 15%. China and South Korea are also scrambling to clinch their own deals and sidestep Trump’s hefty duties.

Yet, some of Wall Street’s heavyweights were starting to feel the sting of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, injecting a dose of caution into the market mood.

American Airlines (AAL.O), fell 9.2% after forecasting a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss, hurt by sluggish domestic travel demand.

Shares of ServiceNow (NOW.N), rose 5.5% after the software firm raised its annual subscription revenue forecast.

Markets were also monitoring developments after the White House surprised investors that Trump – fresh from stepping up his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell – would pay a visit to the U.S. central bank’s headquarters later in the day.

With the Fed widely expected to hold rates steady at next week’s meeting, traders are now pricing in a 62% chance of a September rate cut, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

The latest Labor Department report showed weekly jobless claims fell to 217,000—well below estimates—signaling continued resilience in the U.S. job market.

“It (data) is a good guide for the health of the economy and this week’s jobless claims show that the economy is ticking along just nicely,” said Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton Investors.

U.S. business activity gained momentum in July, but companies hiked prices on goods and services—a move that’s fueling economists’ predictions of faster inflation in the months ahead, largely driven by rising import tariffs

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.63-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 40 new highs and 13 new lows.

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