Wall Street closes higher on Tesla’s strong earnings

July 21 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Thursday, boosted by a late afternoon rally and gains in growth heavyweights, including Tesla.

The technology-focused Nasdaq added 1.4% to lead the gains while the S&P 500 closed at its highest level since June 9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%.

Tesla (TSLA.O)Shares rose 9.8 percent after the electric car maker late on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly results. Gains helped offset declines in telecom and energy stocks, while AT&T Inc (Tennessee) It fell, sending telecom stocks lower after the wireless carrier cut its cash flow forecast, saying some subscribers were delaying bill payments. Energy stocks fell on the back of weak crude oil prices. Read more

“The earnings picture may have been a little better than investors feared. We investors believe that … and there are probably some valuation opportunities,” said J. Bryant Evans, investment advisor and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management.

Amazon (AMZN.O) hail (AAPL.O) Both are up 1.5%, with both companies preparing to report their earnings on July 28.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) The Standard & Poor’s Index rose 162.06 points, or 0.51%, to 32,036.9 points (.SPX) It rose 39.05 points, or 0.99%, to 3,998.95 points, and the Nasdaq Composite (nineteenth) It added 161.96 points, or 1.36%, to 12,059.61 points.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors closed in positive territory, with consumer appreciation (.SPLRCD)Healthcare (.SPXHC) and information technology (.SPLRCT) Spread the biggest gains by adding more than 1% each.

Falling oil prices hit the S&P 500 energy sector (.SPNY)which fell 1.7% to lead declines across sectors.

Market participants continue to anxiously await the US Federal Reserve’s meeting next week as policy makers are expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points to curb runaway inflation.

Joining its global peers, the European Central Bank raised its interest rate by 50 basis points to tame inflation in its first increase since 2011. Read more

Next week’s Fed rate decision will be followed by US Q2 GDP data, which is likely to be negative again.

According to a common rule of thumb, two quarters of negative GDP growth means the United States is in a recession. Read more

The number of Americans registered for unemployment benefits rose to an eight-month high, the latest data to heighten fan fears of a recession. Read more

“Consumers are just starting to respond with less money in their pockets, either from a lower labor market in general or from higher interest rates and inflation,” Evans added.

“Part of the strong earnings reflect the earlier strength of consumers, while a lot of this broader decline we’ve seen.. over the past few months has slowed down the broader economy that will eventually affect consumers.”

Volume on US stock exchanges was 10.58 billion shares compared to an average of 11.63 billion for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Advance issues outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by 1.77 to 1; On the Nasdaq, the 1.52 to 1 ratio favored the highs.

The S&P 500 hit a new 52-week high and 29 new low; The Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and 46 new lows.

(covering Echo Wang) in New York. Additional reporting by Shreyachi Sanyal and Anirudha Ghosh in Bengaluru. Editing by Aaron Coeur and Aurora Ellis

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