Wall Street had a mixed day on Thursday as investors continue to be focused on where the economy is headed and also on the latest company earnings reports. The Dow rose 53 points to 34,987, but the benchmark S&P 500 fell 14 points to 4,360, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 101 points to 14,543. All the major indexes are coming off record highs earlier in the week. Technology and communications stocks fell and were the biggest weight on the market Thursday. Banks, which have been reporting mostly solid financial results, fell as bond yields moved lower, per the AP. That includes the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for interest rates on consumer loans. Lower interest rates make mortgages and other loans less profitable for banks.
More companies reported their latest quarterly earnings. Progressive fell 2.7% after the insurance company’s results fell far short of analysts’ forecasts. Morgan Stanley dropped 0.7% despite reporting a 10% rise in quarterly profits from a year earlier. Investors are also trying to determine how the economic recovery will play out for the rest of the year as the world tries to get back to normal with COVID-19 waning, but still lingering. “There’s a big question mark around COVID-19 shifting from an acute to a chronic condition for the global market,” said Rod von Lipsey, managing director at UBS Private Wealth Management.
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