The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.29% to end at 27,269.97 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.47% to 3,019.56. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.85% to 8,321.50. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each closed at their highest levels ever. The Russell 2000 small cap index <.RUT> jumped 1.64% to its highest close since early May. That suggests investors have grown more confident in the U.S. economy, Delwiche said. (Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 24, 2019. REUTERS)
NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on Wednesday after reassuring comments from Texas Instruments about global chip demand blunted the impact of weak earnings reports from Boeing and Caterpillar.
Texas Instruments Inc
"Semiconductor investors are looking past right now and saying that maybe in the second half of this year, economic concerns will start to abate a little," said Willie Delwiche, an investment strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
However, trade-sensitive Caterpillar Inc
Boeing Co
Those two companies' bleak reports left the Dow Jones Industrial Average in negative territory.
Two weeks into an earnings season with mute investor expectations, about 77% of the 138 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have topped earnings estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Overall earnings per share, however, are now expected to fall 0.1%, compared with a prior estimate of a rise of about 1%.
Wall Street has hit record levels in July on bets the Federal Reserve will lower rates next week to counter the impact of a protracted U.S.-China trade war on economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.29% to end at 27,269.97 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.47% to 3,019.56.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.85% to 8,321.50. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each closed at their highest levels ever.
The Russell 2000 small cap index <.RUT> jumped 1.64% to its highest close since early May. That suggests investors have grown more confident in the U.S. economy, Delwiche said.
For the year, the S&P 500 is now up 20%, while the Nasdaq has gained 25%.
In extended trade, Facebook
Another bright spot on Wednesday was United Parcel Service Inc
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.69-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.45-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 94 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.2 billion shares, compared with the 6.3 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days
Meanwhile European shares closed at a two-week high on Wednesday as a slide in commodity stocks offset gains for chip and car makers ahead of a hotly-anticipated European Central Bank meeting.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up barely 0.05%. Britain's FTSE 100 underperformed with a 0.7% loss as miners slid on the back of falling iron ore prices in China.
Euro zone stocks, however, added 0.2% as optimism over U.S.-China talks helped trade-sensitive sectors including autos and technology, adding to upbeat results from chip bellwether Texas Instruments overnight.
European chipmakers ASM International, Infineon Technologies and Siltronic gained between 2.3% and 6.5%.
Daimler AG gained 2.5% after saying it would intensify cost cuts after swinging to a quarterly loss.
Traders maintain that the next major move for the market may hinge on how strong a signal the ECB sends on Thursday about support for growth, and the U.S. Federal Reserve's response a week later.
"There is a feeling in this market that everything hangs on the central banks and they have to satisfy markets," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda in London.
"If you look at earnings, it's not that we are looking for companies to excel. Small beats and misses won't be latched onto as much as they would be, if everything wasn't hanging on the central banks right now."
SHAKY
Stocks have been shakier in July since recovering from a strong selloff in May that was the worst in more than two years.
Investors have lowered forecasts for corporate earnings and the latest batch of results accompanied purchasing manager (PMI) surveys that showed euro zone business growth was weaker than expected in July and would get worse.
Banks were among the hardest hit, falling 0.7%, as euro zone government bond yields slid after the weak data, which lifted bets the ECB would have to point strongly to policy loosening - or even deliver some.
Money markets are now pricing in around a 53% chance of a 10-basis-point rate cut by the ECB, with a cut fully priced in for September.
Shares in Deutsche Bank, in the midst of sweeping changes to reboot its business, fell nearly 2% after it reported a bigger than expected loss. Those in Britain's luxury car maker Aston sank 26% after it cut its annual forecast for wholesale sales.
Commodities-linked stocks slid 1.3%, with a fall in iron ore prices and a Liberium downgrade on miners taking shares of Rio Tinto down nearly 5%.
That offset gains for Broadcaster ITV, up 6.8% after it said a strong contribution to online revenue from reality show "Love Island" helped limit a decline in first-half ad revenue.
Finland's Valmet extended losses for a second day, falling nearly 8% to the bottom of STOXX 600 after the industrial machinery and equipment maker reported quarterly results below estimates.. - Reuters
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