S&P 500 Hits New High as Earnings Reports Roll In

The S&P 500 climbed to another record Tuesday as earnings reporting season for big US companies picked up the pace.

• The S&P 500 rose 4.17 points, or 0.3%, to 4,864.60.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 96.36 points, or 0.3%, to 37,905.45.a day after topping 38,000.
• The Nasdaq composite also climbed, up 65.66, or 0.4%, to 15,425.94.

Big gains for Procter & Gamble and United Airlines following their latest profit reports helped to lift the market. But a sharp drop for 3M weighed on the Dow in particular, the AP reports. Johnson & Johnson also fell following its earnings report.

Procter & Gamble climbed 4.1% after posting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company behind Charmin and Olay benefited from price hikes for its products, and it raised its forecast for profit for this full fiscal year. United Airlines flew 5.3% higher after it also reported stronger profit for the last three months of 2023 than analysts expected. It made more in revenue from customers in both basic economy and premium seats, though it warned it may lose money in the first three months of this year because of the grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

They helped offset a 11% tumble for 3M after it gave a forecast for earnings this upcoming year that fell short of analysts' expectations. The maker of Post-it notes and Command strips was the main reason the Dow dropped from its record. Johnson & Johnson was also a heavy weight on the market and fell 17% after reporting weaker profit for the latest quarter than expected. Earnings season is kicking into gear, and more than a dozen companies in the S&P 500 reported their latest quarterly results Tuesday morning. More than 50 are scheduled to follow up later this week, including Tesla and Intel.

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Among Tuesday's headliners was Verizon Communications, which rose 6.7% after beating analysts' profit estimates. General Electric also topped expectations, but its stock slipped 1% after it gave a forecast for profit this quarter that fell short of analysts' forecasts. Homebuilder DR Horton sank 9.2% after reporting weaker profit than expected. (More stock market stories.)