The NASDAQ hit a record high today, up over 30 points as of 12:15 p.m. ET, catching a tailwind of positive second-quarter earnings from Google-parent company Alphabet.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed over 200 points today with United Technologies and DowDupont Inc leading the rally. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 also caught the positive vibes in the other indices, posting its own gain of 18 points with Avery Dennison Corp and Harley-Davidson Inc leading the way.
Alphabet smashed analyst expectations of $9.59 earnings per share for its second quarter with $11.75. Shares of Alphabet were up 3.77% as of 12:15 p.m. ET.
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“Alphabet delivered strong top line results, again proving that its increased investments are paying off,” said J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth. “Investments in machine learning & AI are driving innovation throughout Alphabet’s businesses, including mobile search, cloud, Google Home, Assistant, Waymo, etc.”
According to data compiled by FactSet, of the 21.4 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported, 80.6 percent have exceeded analyst expectations for second-quarter earnings. Furthermore, 74.1 percent of those companies beat revenue estimates.
“My expectations for earnings were pretty high coming into this season, and so far they are coming in as strong as we and a lot of people expected,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “My biggest concern is if companies start guiding down because of tariffs. That’s going to cause them to sell off.”
With regard to tariffs, the markets turned the other cheek, preferring to focus on corporate earnings. Even when U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to express his approval for tariffs, the markets didn’t blink.
Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that – and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
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