S&P 500 extends streak of record highs; Tesla tumbles

US stock market: The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high for a fifth straight session on Thursday after data showing strong US economic growth in the fourth quarter boosted sentiment, while Tesla tumbled following a disappointing sales forecast.

US stock market: The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high for a fifth straight session on Thursday after data showing strong US economic growth. Image: Reuters

US stock market: The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high for a fifth straight session on Thursday after data showing strong US economic growth in the fourth quarter boosted sentiment, while Tesla tumbled following a disappointing sales forecast.

The gains extended a rally in which the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab recently hit record highs for the first time in two years, lifted by optimism about the economy and lower interest rates, as well as bets on artificial intelligence.

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab slumped 12 per cent to its lowest since May 2023 after CEO Elon Musk warned sales growth would slow this year despite price cuts that have hurt its margins. That left the car maker's stock market value at about $580 billion, below Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab and just above Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab.

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The US economy grew faster than expected in the December quarter amid strong consumer spending, confounding predictions of a recession after the Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates, with full-year growth of 2.5 per cent.

"GDP was a good surprise for the market in that there wasn't problematic inflation, and the consumer continues to spend money," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at US Bank Asset Management Group. "And so there more support for the narrative that company earnings and sales growth should be better as we press forward."

Other data showed initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 20 rose to 214,000, higher than the estimated 200,000 figure.

Quarterly results next week from Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab will give investors a glimpse of whether those heavyweight company's high valuations are warranted following surges in their stocks since Wall Street bottomed out in 2022.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.53 per cent to end the session at 4,894.16 points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.18 per cent to 15,510.50 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.64 per cent to 38,049.13 points.

Other electric car makers fell following Tesla's quarterly report late on Wednesday. Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O), opens new tab lost 2.2 per cent and Lucid Group (LCID.O), opens new tab dropped 6.7 per cent.

Humana (HUM.N), opens new tab sank 11.7 per cent after it became the latest health insurer to forecast disappointing annual profits, dragging the S&P 500 healthcare sector index (.SPXHC), opens new tab down 0.2 per cent.

UnitedHealth (UNH.N), opens new tab and Cigna (CI.N), opens new tab dropped 3.9 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively. IBM (IBM.N), opens new tab jumped 9.5 per cent after forecasting full-year revenue growth above estimates, while Comcast (CMCSA.O), opens new tab added 3.4 per cent after the media giant topped quarterly revenue estimates.

American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab soared 10.3 per cent after the carrier forecast largely upbeat annual profits. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 82 per cent have surpassed expectations, LSEG data showed. That compares to a long-term average beat rate of 67 per cent.

Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab fell 5.7 per cent after the US Federal Aviation Administration barred the troubled planemaker from expanding production of its 737 MAX narrowbody planes.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX), opens new tab by a 4.0-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 50 new highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 97 new highs and 119 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 11.5 billion shares traded, about average for the previous 20 sessions.ac

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