US: S&P 500 notches new record as Netflix surges

WALL Street stocks mostly rose Wednesday (Jan 24), lifting the S&P 500 to a fresh record following strong Netflix results and data suggesting United States economic health.

Shares of Netflix surged more than 10 per cent as it reported adding some 13 million subscribers in the most recent quarter, raising hopes about results from other tech giants.

Analysts also cited favourable US purchasing managers’ survey data from S&P Global that showed both manufacturing and services in expansion.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent at 4,868.55, logging a third straight record.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3 per cent to 37,806.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent to 15,481.92.

The upbeat US data “continues the same trend that we saw last year when the economic growth was stronger than expected all year and the big slowdown that people were looking for never occurred”, said Karl Haeling, LBBW.

“This is overall a good situation for stocks because it gives you hope for a soft landing,” he said.

Besides Netflix, most other large tech companies including Amazon and Meta Platforms climbed higher ahead of earnings reports.

Microsoft edged above US$3 trillion in market value before finishing the day just below it with a gain of 0.9 per cent.

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Among other companies reporting results, diaper and paper product brand Kimberly-Clark dropped more than five per cent after reporting weaker than expected earnings due in part to unfavourable currency movements.

Others to move following earnings were Global Dynamics, which won 4.9 per cent and Texas Instruments, which dropped 2.5 per cent. AFP