Stan Choe, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street appeared on records Thursday following a breakthrough that surpassed expectations regarding the economy and a series of profit reports from large U.S. companies.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to reach the highest set of all time a week ago. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 229 points (0.5%), while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7% to its own record set the previous day.
Trades were milder than Wednesday when President Donald Trump shook financial markets, saying he was unlikely to do so, saying he was not likely to. Such a move could help Wall Street get the low interest rates it loves, but could put the weakened Fed at risk because it can’t make the unpopular moves it needs to control inflation.
A strong profit report from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. helped drive high-tech stocks, with its net profit rising nearly 61% in the previous quarter of the previous year. The chipmaker said that TSMC’s shares traded in the US rose 3.4%, as it saw strong demand from human intelligence and other customers.
Other stocks involved in AI have also risen, with Nvidia’s 1% gain being one of the most powerful forces pushing upwards on the S&P 500.
PepsiCo bouncing 7.5% after delivering revenue and profits that have broken Wall Street expectations. The drink and snack giant was also standing in the financial forecast given in April. This was predicted to have lower full-year profits than previously forecast due to increased costs due to tariffs and pullbacks in consumer spending.
United Airlines rose 3.1% after reporting profits in the most recent quarter than analysts expected. He also said he expects economic uncertainty to be low later this year, as he sees an accelerated demand from customers that began in early July.
Lucid Group stocks skyrocketed 36.2% after Uber Technologies said it aims to use more than 20,000 vehicles in its Robotaxi program over six years. It plans to launch “in major US cities later next year” using an autonomous system by Nuro.
Uber, which plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lucid and Nuro, has dropped by 0.3% in its inventory edge.
Wall Street losers were Abbott Institute, which fell 8.5% despite results in the most recent quarter that exceeded past analyst expectations. Healthcare companies have reduced the top of their forecast range for revenue growth over 2025.
Elevent’s health fell 12.2% after analysts reported weaker profits than expected. Along with other factors, we reduced our profit forecasts in 2025 as the trend in health costs for affordable care methods businesses is increasing.
The S&P 500 rose 33.66 points to 6,297.36. The Dow Jones industrial average scored 44,484.49 from 229.71, while the Nasdaq composite rose from 153.78 to 20,885.27.
The bond market had mixed Treasury yields following several reports that surpassed expectations regarding the economy.
One said shoppers spent more at US retailers last month than economists expected. Such spending, along with a relatively solid job market, helped protect the US economy from recession.
According to another report, fewer US workers claimed unemployment benefits last week, which could be a signal of limited layoffs. The third suggested unexpectedly strong growth in manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Such robust data could cause the Federal Reserve to suspend interest rates. The Fed has been stable this year after cutting them late last year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell argues that he wants to wait for more data on how Trump’s tariffs will affect the economy and inflation before the Fed makes the next move.
That’s because while lower interest rates could cover the economy and investment prices, they would also give more fuel to inflation. Also, prices may already be beginning to feel the upward impact of tariffs.
The strong economy on Thursday helped boost the Treasury yields in the two years, closely tracking the Fed’s expectations of up to 3.91% from 3.88% in the second half of Wednesday.
However, the long-term Treasury yields remained stable, with 10-year yields falling from 4.46% to 4.45%. The Fed has little effect on these yields, which shakes more by bond market investors.
Bond investors were temporarily pushing for long-term yields on Wednesday, when Trump was likely to fire Powell. The president is angrily sought Powell to cut interest rates, and the non-independent Fed could potentially cut short-term interest rates in the short term. This could lead to higher future inflation. The long-term yields have relaxed after Trump said it’s unlikely to fire Powell.
In overseas stock markets, indexes rose in most parts of Europe and Asia.
AP business writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Original issue: July 17, 2025 9:47am EDT
