Agora Financial market strategist Alan Knuckman says there will possibly be ‘positive earnings growth’ despite the tensions occurring between the U.S. and Iran.
Stocks surged to record highs Thursday as investors moved past the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Continue Reading Below
President Trump celebrated the stock market’s strength in a tweet.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite were all trading in record territory after shrugging off Iran’s missile attack on U.S. forces on Tuesday evening.
Futures for the major averages suffered steep losses as footage of the attacks crossed the airwaves, but stocks reversed into positive territory as Trump de-escalated tensions with a White House speech late Wednesday morning.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3269.13 | +16.08 | +0.49% |
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 28937.72 | +192.63 | +0.67% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 9186.397303 | +57.16 | +0.63% |
Boeing rallied after U.S. officials said they believe Iran accidentally shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight. Shares of the planemaker were pressured Wednesday after traders priced in the possibility that the plane crashed due to mechanical problems with the Boeing 737 jet.
Defense stocks, which have had a hot start to the year amid the escalating tensions with Iran, gained further ground.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | BOEING COMPANY | 336.86 | +5.49 | +1.66% |
| LMT | LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION | 415.41 | +4.38 | +1.07% |
| NOC | NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION | 373.35 | +3.06 | +0.83% |
| GD | GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION | 182.04 | +1.56 | +0.86% |
| RTN | RAYTHEON COMPANY | 227.93 | +0.53 | +0.23% |
Meanwhile, commodities attempted to find their footing after seeing sharp reversals following Trump’s speech.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, was 0.3 percent lower at $59.45 a barrel after plunging nearly 5 percent the previous day. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil, the international benchmark was little changed at $64.45 a barrel after Wednesday’s steep slide.
Energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron were mixed after suffering losses on Wednesday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XOM | EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION | 69.55 | +0.32 | +0.46% |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP. | 117.30 | -0.40 | -0.34% |
Gold continued to slide, trading down 0.8 percent near $1,547 an ounce. The precious metal hit an almost seven-year high of $1,613.30 on Tuesday evening.
Miners Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp were lower.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOLD | BARRICK GOLD CORP. | 17.72 | -0.10 | -0.56% |
| NEM | NEWMONT CORPORATION | 41.88 | -0.20 | -0.49% |
Elsewhere, Bed Bath & Beyond plunged after reporting a $38.6 million loss in its third-quarter and warning its sales and profitability will be under pressure for the rest of the fiscal year.
Costco was higher after its December sales spiked 10.5 percent year over year to $15.42 billion. J.C. Penney and Kohl’s were lower after reporting their holiday sales slumped.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBBY | BED BATH & BEYOND INC. | 13.54 | -3.12 | -18.71% |
| COST | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION | 299.20 | +4.51 | +1.53% |
| JCP | J.C. PENNEY | 1.06 | -0.14 | -11.25% |
| KSS | KOHL’S CORP. | 45.03 | -4.35 | -8.81% |
HP climbed after rejecting a $33 billion takeover offer from Xerox, saying it undervalued the company.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HPQ | HP INC. | 21.15 | +0.22 | +1.05% |
| XRX | XEROX HOLDINGS | 36.27 | +0.34 | +0.95% |
Tesla shares fell after Wednesday’s surge gave it a bigger market capitalization than Ford and General Motors combined. Shares of the electric-vehicle maker have surged 17.6 percent this year, saddling short-sellers with more than $2 billion of losses.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 486.11 | -6.03 | -1.22% |
U.S. Treasurys were lower after the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 214,000 last week, better-than-expected. The note on the 10-year yield was up 1.4 basis points at 1.888 percent.
All of the major European averages rallied with Germany’s DAX up 1.4 percent, France’s CAC higher by 0.3 percent and Britain’s FTSE gaining 0.5 percent.
Markets closed higher across Asia. Japan’s Nikkei led the way higher, closing up 2.3 percent while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
