U.S. stocks climbed to record levels on Tuesday as major corporations continued to turn in solid quarterly results, but major averages closed off their highs of the day with some major tech names rolling over.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 15.73 points to close at another record high of 35,756.88. At one point, the 30-stock Dow climbed about 150 points to hit an all-time high. The S&P 500 rose nearly 0.2%, hitting a fresh record as well at 4,574.79. The Nasdaq Composite rose less than 0.1% to 15,235.71.
An intraday reversal in shares of Facebook weighed on major averages at midday. After trading flat to higher to start the session, Facebook shares dropped more than 5% at the session low and closed 3.9% lower. The company topped analysts’ earnings expectations but missed estimates for revenue and monthly active users.
Tesla erased earlier gains and fell 0.6% Tuesday after the electric vehicle company soared more than 12% in the previous session to reach a $1 trillion market cap for the first time.
United Parcel Service saw its shares jump 6.9% after the shipping firm posted strong beats on profit and revenue across all business segments. Dow component 3M dipped 0.1% despite beating expectations on the top and bottom lines.
General Electric rose 2% after the company issued an upward revision to its full-year earnings forecast while reporting higher than expected third-quarter profit.
Nearly 30% S&P 500 companied have reported earnings and more than 80% of them beat Wall Street expectations, according to CNBC calculations. S&P 500 companies are expected to grow profit by about 35.6% in the third quarter.
“Risk appetite remains on the table for U.S. equities,” said Craig Johnson, Piper Sandler’s chief market technician. “Corporate earnings have been the key catalyst behind the recent record-high rally as robust demand continues to offset well-known supply constraints and pricing pressures.”
Technology darlings Alphabet and Microsoft traded higher heading into their earnings reports after the bell Tuesday. Microsoft bulls are expecting a strong quarter for the tech giant, bolstered by its key Azure business. Analysts are expecting Alphabet earnings to come in 43% higher year over year.
Twitter, Advanced Micro Devices and Robinhood also report quarterly earnings after the bell on Tuesday.
“Earnings season is off to another great start, but now the big test is will the big tech names step up? With stocks at all-time highs, the bar is indeed quite high and tech will need to impress to help justify stocks at current levels,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.
On the data front, U.S. consumer confidence rose in October, reversing a three-month downward trend, according to the Conference Board. Its consumer confidence index climbed to a reading of 113.8, topping a Dow Jones expectation of 108 and up from 109.8 in September.
