NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street drifted to a mixed finish after Tesla surged and IBM slumped following their latest profit reports. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Thursday to break its first three-day losing streak since early September. It bounced between losses and gains through the day, and was evenly split between rising and falling stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Tesla jumped 21.9%, the second-best day in its history, after reporting a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. IBM sank 6.2% after reporting revenue that came in short of expectations. Treasury yields eased.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting Thursday following a rush of profit reports from big U.S. companies, as a sharp drop for IBM helps cancel out a surge for Tesla.
The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in afternoon trading. It’s coming off of its first three-day losing streak since early September.
The Nasdaq composite was up 0.7%, as of 3:11 p.m. Eastern, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lagging the rest of the market with a drop of 145 points, or 0.3%.
IBM was one of the heaviest weights on the market and fell 6.5% after reporting revenue for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was the single biggest reason the Dow was dragging behind other indexes.
Boeing was another heavy weight and sank 1.4% after its machinists voted to continue their strike, which has crippled aircraft production. More than 60% of union members who voted on the proposed contract rejected it, keeping them on the picket lines six weeks into their strike.
Union Pacific dropped 4.9% after the railroad reported slightly weaker profit and revenue than expected.
Such losses helped to overshadow Tesla’s jump of 21.3% after the electric-vehicle maker reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. An optimistic CEO Elon Musk also predicted 20% to 30% sales growth next year, though its revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ forecasts.
UPS climbed 4.9% 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 one of the strongest forces pushing upward the S&P 500. It jumped 4.5% after delivering stronger profit and revenue than expected, driven by interest by customers to incorporate artificial-intelligence technology.
