NEW YORK, July 17 — The Dow and S&P 500 were mostly higher early today following data showing improvement in the housing market, while Netflix shares tumbled on disappointing results.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 26,798.89, up 0.2 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.2 per cent to 3,222.69, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was down less than 0.1 per cent at 10,470.74.
US home construction surged 17.3 per cent in June, the Commerce Department said, as the sector continued to gain ground following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The figures were especially strong in the Northeast, which had suffered the worst of the virus earlier in the spring. It isn’t clear yet if worsening coronavirus outbreaks in southern and western states will slow the housing rebound.
Stocks have been choppy this week, boosted by better-than-expected banking earnings, progress towards a Covid-19 vaccine and talk of additional stimulus measures from Washington.
However, coronavirus cases have continued to spike and there has also been an uptick in hospitalizations and fatalities in some states.
Among individual names, Netflix dropped 7.0 per cent after reporting relatively flat second-quarter profits despite rising subscriber numbers.
BlackRock jumped 3.7 per cent as the money management firm attracted US$100 billion in new funds amid the upheaval in markets. — AFP
