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* U.S. weekly jobless claims fall slightly
* Amazon, Netflix hit record high
* Morgan Stanley drops after profit falls
* Indexes mixed: Dow down 0.1%, S&P 500 up 0.3%, Nasdaq up
1.1%
(Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
April 16 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose in afternoon trading on
Thursday as Amazon.com and Netflix surged to record highs, while
worries about first-quarter earnings weighed on the Dow and
limited gains in the S&P 500.
The Nasdaq outperformed the other two major indexes,
extending recent gains. Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Netflix Inc
NFLX.O rose to record highs as sweeping stay-at-home orders
drove demand for online streaming services and home delivery of
goods.
A fall for Boeing Co BA.N dragged the Dow down as its
European rival Airbus AIR.PA said it was examining requests to
defer deliveries after a collapse in travel demand. Meanwhile, the shutdown in New York was extended until May
15 even as coronavirus-related hospitalizations and deaths fell
to their lowest in more than a week, adding to evidence that the
hardest-hit state was controlling its spread. President Donald Trump is now expected to announce "new
guidelines" for re-opening the economy at a news conference
later on Thursday. Wall Street has swung this week between hopes of a peaking
in coronavirus cases and fears of the biggest economic slump
since the Great Depression, as the lockdown measures crushed
business activity.
"We're not going to see a V-shaped recovery, and I think
investors will eventually realize that, so it's premature to
call a bottom in stocks at this stage," said Alan Lancz,
president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc., an investment
advisory firm based in Toledo, Ohio.
Latest data showed jobless claims fell slightly to 5.2
million last week from an upwardly revised 6.62 million the
previous week, but the total figure for the past month still
topped a stunning 20 million. Economists polled by Reuters had estimated 5.1 million
jobless claims for the week ended April 11.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 33.67 points,
or 0.14%, to 23,470.68, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 8.37 points,
or 0.30%, to 2,791.73 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
89.23 points, or 1.06%, to 8,482.41.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX rose for the second straight
session, while the flight from risk pressured U.S. Treasury
yields. US/
After a 27.5% rally from its March lows, the S&P 500 index
is still about 18% below its record high as first-quarter
earnings kicked off with U.S. banks preparing for a wave of
future loan defaults following a halt in business activity.
Analysts estimate earnings for S&P 500 companies slumped
12.8% in the first quarter, which would be the biggest quarterly
decline since the financial crisis.
Morgan Stanley MS.N wrapped up earnings for the big U.S.
lenders, reporting a plunge in quarterly profit as its advisory
and wealth management businesses took a hit from the economic
fallout of the pandemic. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
2.13-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.60-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 60 new lows.
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