July 21 (UPI) — The Nasdaq Composite climbed more than 1% Thursday as tech stocks continued to drive U.S. markets upward.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed the day up 1.36%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.99%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 162.06 points, or 0.51%.
Tech stocks were boosted by a weaker dollar as the European Central Bank raised interest rates by a higher-than-expected 0.5 percentage point in its first rate hike in 11 years.
Shares of Tesla helped bolster the market, rising 9.78% after posting better-than-expected earnings, which saw the electric car maker convert 75% of its bitcoin holdings into fiat currency.
Thursday’s earnings, however, were not as strong.
Snapchat parent Snap reported earnings that missed analysts’ expectations after the bell, with revenue coming in at $1.11 billion versus $1.14 billion expected, while revenue per Snap user fell 4.5% year-over-year.
The social media company did not provide third quarter guidance, citing the financial climate.
“While the continued growth of our community increases the long-term opportunity for our business, our financial results for Q2 do not reflect our ambition,” CEO Evan Spiegel said.
Shares of Snap were up 5.45% during regular trading as investors anticipated the report, but plummeted more than 25% in after-hours trading.
AT&T stock fell 7.62% despite posting an earnings beat as the telecommunications company lowered its full-year free cash flow guidance.
American Airlines also cut back on its growth plans despite meeting earnings expectations as the airline’s stock declined 7.43%.
United Airlines’ stock fell 10.17% after it reported that it missed earnings expectations on Wednesday.
Thursday also saw jobless claims rise for the third straight week, with initial claims reaching 251,000 for the week of July 16 — the highest level since November 2021 — up from 244,000 the prior week, according to the Labor Department.
Despite the bad news Thursday, all three major indexes were on pace to post gains for the week following the three-day rally.
The Nasdaq has risen 5.3% so far this week, while the S&P 500 has climbed 3.5% and the Dow is up 2.4%.
