U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds managed to turn higher mid-Thursday as earnings helped support gains, but falling oil prices kept pressure on the energy sector.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were up 0.1% Thursday.
Fueling the ongoing strength in the equities market, strong earnings from technology companies helped keep the momentum going.
Additionally, investors continued to digest President Donald Trump’s recently announced tax reform plan, which proposed deep cuts for businesses.
“The market is focused more on growth and earnings now than what is coming out of the administration,” Ryan Caldwell, chief investment officer at Chiron Investment Management, told Reuters. “It is good to see they are looking at taxes, and it’s good to know they are aggressive, but the implementation looks more like an end-of-the-year event.”