Wall Street drifted to a mixed finish Thursday after Tesla surged to one of the best days in its history, while IBM slumped to its worst in six months.
- The Dow fell 140.59 points, or 0.3%, to 42,374.36.
- The S&P 500 rose 12.44 points, or 0.2%, to 5,809.86, breaking its first three-day losing streak since early September.
- The Nasdaq rose 138.83 points, or 0.8%, to 18,415.49.
Tesla led the market with a jump of 21.9% after the electric-vehicle maker reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, the AP reports. An optimistic Elon Musk, the CEO, predicted 20% to 30% sales growth next year, though revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts' forecasts. It was the best day for Tesla's stock since 2013. UPS climbed 5.3% after likewise topping analysts' forecasts for profit. The package-delivery company's finances can offer a window into the strength of the economy because of how many different types of customers it serves, and its revenue edged past expectations. ServiceNow, whose platform helps companies automate and connect processes, was another force pushing the S&P 500 up. The company rose 5.4% after delivering stronger profit and revenue than expected.
Such gains helped to offset a drop of 6.2% for IBM, which reported revenue for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts' expectations. It was the single biggest reason the Dow dragged behind other indexes. Boeing was another weight and sank 1.2% after its machinists voted to continue their strike, which has crippled aircraft production. Union Pacific dropped 4.4% after the railroad reported slightly weaker profit and revenue than expected. Stocks have broadly regressed this week after the S&P 500 and Dow both set records at the end of last week.
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