Dow, Benchmark S&P 500 Can't Agree on Direction

Wall Street had a weird day, with major indexes very much split. The Dow rose a solid 197 points, or 0.6%, to 32,036, but the S&P 500 fell 22 points, or 0.5%, to 3,807, and the Nasdaq fell 178 points, or 1.6%, to 10,792. The Dow was lifted by a GDP report showing stronger-than-expected growth, as well as by construction equipment maker Caterpillar, which jumped 8.2% and contributed greatly to the index's gains after it handily beat analysts’ third-quarter profit forecasts, per the AP. The other two major indexes were weighed down by tech stocks, including Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft, all of which have delivered lackluster earnings reports this week.

Still, the benchmark S&P 500 is holding on to weekly gains and remains solidly on track to end October in the green. “What you're seeing is a little bit of relief,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors. “Earnings are not great but they're not awful either.” Long-term Treasury yields fell on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 3.95% from 4.01% late Wednesday. The two-year yield fell to 4.34% from 4.42%. (Mortgage rates just hit 7% for the first time in 20 years.)

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