NEW YORK -- U.S. stock indexes fluttered Thursday, then ended the day slightly above where they started. The modest gains were enough to nudge the Nasdaq composite to another record and the Standard & Poor's 500 index to within a whisper of its all-time high.
Earnings report
American Airlines Group Inc., the world’s largest airline, a profit of $234 million, or 46 cents a share, down from $700 million, or $1.14 a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 2 percent to $9.62 billion. Shares fell $2.42 to close Thursday at $43.98.
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, a profit of $351 million, or 57 cents a share, down from $513 million, or 79 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 1 percent to $4.88 billion. Shares fell $1.19 to close at $55.75.
Union Pacific Corp., the Omaha, Neb.-based railroad, a profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.32 a share, up from $979 million, or $1.16 a share a year ago. Revenue rose 6 percent to $5.13 billion. Shares rose $3.36 to close at $113.53.
United Parcel Service, Inc., the package delivery company, a profit of $1.16 billion, or $1.32 a share, up from $1.13 billion, or $1.27 a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 6.2 percent to $15.32 billion. Shares rose $1.21 to close at $108.83.
The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average added 6.24 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 20,981.33. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.71, or 0.4 percent, to 6,048.94 and reached a closing high for the third time in four days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,388.77 and is within a third of a percent of its record.
It was the second-straight day where indexes made only modest, meandering moves, a downshift from big gains made early in the week.
Gains by Under Armour, Comcast and other companies reporting stronger-than-expected profits on Thursday helped to offset a slump in energy stocks. The encouraging reports added to the lengthening list of companies saying they earned more in the first three months of 2017 than Wall Street had forecast. Analysts expect this to be the strongest quarter of growth in years.
The reports have helped lift stocks and temper concerns, at least a bit, that the market had grown too expensive.
"Expectations were high, and they needed to deliver, so thankfully they have delivered," said Nate Thooft, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management. "As long as earnings continue to follow through and economic data doesn't roll over materially, stocks can keep going."
Under Armour jumped to the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting bigger profits than analysts expected. A rise in sales abroad, particularly in Asia, helped push its revenue to $1.12 billion from $1.05 billion in last year's first quarter. The company's A-class shares climbed $1.96, or 9.9 percent, to $21.67.
PayPal Holdings jumped $2.74, or 6.2 percent, to $47.15 after also reporting stronger revenue and earnings than Wall Street had forecast.
Companies reporting earnings after the market closed Thursday included tech giants Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet.
Microsoft Corp. reported a fiscal third-quarter profit of $4.8 billion, or 61 cents a share. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker posted revenue of $22.09 billion.
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of $724 million, or $1.48 per share.The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.03 per share. The online retailer posted revenue of $35.71 billion.
Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, reported a profit of $5.43 billion, or $7.73 per share. The Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet search leader posted revenue of $24.75 billion in the period.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil dropped 65 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $48.97 per barrel, while Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 38 cents to $51.44 a barrel.
The price of gold rose $1.70 to settle at $1,265.90 an ounce, silver slipped 10 cents to $17.27 per ounce, and copper fell a penny to $2.58 per pound.
Business on 04/28/2017