U.S. stocks rose Wednesday after the S&P 500 notched its third straight day of losses, as the corporate earnings season ramped up.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.4%, along with the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 100 points, or 0.3%.
United Airlines climbed more than 7% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss and beating on revenue. J.B. Hunt Transport Services fell more than 5% after missing analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Those moves come after the Dow was able to break a six-day losing streak on Tuesday, lifted by UnitedHealth’s post-earnings rally. But Tuesday marked the third straight day of declines for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.
Stocks were choppy on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the Federal Reserve needs to see more progress on the inflation front before the U.S. central bank is likely to begin cutting rates. The comments did little to assuage the market’s pessimism, said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategy analyst with Baird.
Mayfield sees equities trading mostly range-bound in the near term, with an exception being if any geopolitical event spikes oil prices even higher.
