The US markets ended higher on Thursday with Nasdaq settling higher by around 50 points. Markets saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading session, with the major averages showing wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in positive territory. Traders overlooked report that President Donald Trump said he would follow through on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on Saturday, February 1st. The choppy trading on the day came amid a mixed reaction to earnings news from several big-name companies. Shares of IBM Corp. (IBM) skyrocketed by 13.0 percent after the tech giant reported fourth quarter earnings that exceeded street estimates. Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) also posted a notable gain after reporting fourth quarter results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. On the other hand, shares of Microsoft (MSFT) plunged by 6.2 percent after the software giant reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results but provided disappointing revenue guidance for the current quarter.
On the global front, gold stocks moved sharply higher as the price of the precious metal reached highs, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 4.1 percent to its best closing level in well over a month. Interest rate-sensitive utilities and housing stocks also saw considerable strength, with the Dow Jones Utility Average and the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index surging by 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Networking, airline and pharmaceutical stocks also saw notable strength, while the steep drop by Microsoft weighed on the software sector.
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 168.61 points or 0.38 percent to 44,882.13, Nasdaq gained 49.43 points or 0.25 percent to 19,681.75 and S&P 500 was up by 31.86 points or 0.53 percent to 6,071.17.
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