A not-so-great report on economic growth didn't phase the stock market on Thursday. The Dow rose 239 points, or 0.6%, to 35,730; the S&P 500 rose 44 points, or 0.9%, to 4,596; and the Nasdaq rose 212 points, or 1.3%, to 15,448. Those are record closes for the S&P and Nasdaq, notes CNBC. Smaller stocks outpaced the broader market in a sign that investors are more confident, per the AP. The Russell 2000 rose 1.7%. Technology stocks led the gains. KLA, which makes equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, rose 4.2% after beating Wall Street’s fiscal first-quarter profit forecasts. Apple, which reports its financial results later Thursday, rose 2.3%.
Investors are busy reviewing another big round of company earnings. Ford jumped 8.3% after reporting earnings that easily beat analysts’ forecasts and raising its full-year outlook. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar also rose 3.4% after turning in strong results. The broader market has been gaining ground as the latest batch of corporate report cards show that companies fared well in the most recent quarter, despite a surge in COVID-19 cases and inflation worries weighing on the economic recovery. Meanwhile, the US economy slowed sharply to a 2% annual growth rate in the July-September period, according to the Commerce Department. That marks the weakest quarterly expansion since the recovery from the pandemic recession began last year.
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