Stocks closed higher on Thursday, thanks to a host of positive corporate earnings reports and better-than-expected economic data.
Both the the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs, gaining 0.54% and 0.74%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 0.52%.
Some of the biggest winners of the day include PepsiCo and United Airlines, which both posted better-than-expected results. Add on solid results from many big banks earlier in the week, a decent jobs report, and higher-than-anticipated retail sales, and investors are feeling confident.
So far, around 50 S&P 500 companies have reported earnings results, and 88% have beat analysts’ estimates, says Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Investment Management. Earnings are growing by more than 8% year-over-year on revenue growth of nearly 5%.
“Anxious investors are breathing a sigh of relief as corporate executives forecast strong results for the remainder of 2025,” Arone says. “Second quarter earnings season is off to a strong start, propelling market indices higher.”
This follows a frenzied Wednesday in the markets, thanks to reports that President Donald Trump was getting closer to firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Stocks rebounded when the claim was denied by the president. Still, investors remain on edge when it comes to Powell’s potential ouster.
“The financial markets have provided the clearest guardrails to Trump’s more extreme policy ideas this year, so the reaction yesterday may be enough to ensure that Trump does not follow through with trying to fire Powell,” writes Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.
Instead, share prices of two high fructose corn syrup manufacturers took a hit today thanks to the president’s actions. Trump posted on his social network that Coca-Cola had agreed to use real cane sugar in products in the U.S., causing the stock prices of Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Ingredion to drop 6% and 7%, respectively, at one point. Meanwhile, Coke was tight-lipped on whether the decision had been fully agreed to.
“We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand,” a company spokesperson told Fortune‘s Paolo Confino. “More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
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