U.S. stock markets closed mostly higher on Thursday after a mixed bag of earnings from technology giants. Market participants were busy weighing developments on trade policies. Economic data also came in mixed. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended in positive territory, while the Dow finished in negative territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.7% or 316.38 points to close at 44,693.91. Notably, 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory and 12 finished in the green. The blue-chip index is currently 0.8% away from its all-time high posted on Dec 4, 2024.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 21,057.96, rising 0.2%, on the back of strong earnings results from AI behemoths. This reflects the tech-laden index’s new closing high. In intraday trading, the index recorded a new all-time high of 21,113.10.
The S&P 500 was up 0.1% to finish at 6,363.35, marking a new and its 13th closing high this year. In intraday trading, Wall Street’s most watched benchmark posted a new all-time high of 6,381.31. Out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, eight ended in negative territory while three closed in positive territory. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) advanced 1.7% and 1%, respectively. On the other hand, the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 0.7%.
The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 0.1% to 15.39. A total of 19.9 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 17.8 billion. The S&P 500 registered 46 new highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq posted 81 new highs and 44 new lows.
Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL second-quarter 2025 earnings of $2.31 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.44% and grew 22.2% year over year. Revenues of $96.43 billion increased 13.8% year over year (13% at constant currency).
Net revenues, excluding total traffic acquisition costs (the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners and the amount paid to distribution partners and others who direct traffic to GOOGL’s website), were $81.72 billion, which surpassed the consensus mark by 2.2%. The figure rose 14.5% year over year.
ServiceNow Inc. NOW reported second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $4.09 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.54% and increased 30.7% year over year. Revenues of $3.22 billion beat the consensus mark by 3.02% and increased 22.4% year over year. At constant currency (cc), revenues increased 21.5% year over year to $3.19 billion.
