The prices of publicly-listed companies in the United States rose on Thursday (Friday AEST) with two of the market barometers on Wall Street ending at new highs.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices were hoisted to fresh peaks by a positive outlook statement from Delta Air Lines and a record close by NVIDIA, despite more tariffs news from United States President Donald Trump.
The S&P 500 rose 17.20 points or 0.27% to 6,280.46 points, the Nasdaq added 19.33 points or 0.09% to 20,630.67 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 192.34 points or 0.43% to 44,650.64.
Delta shares surged 12% after beating Wall Street estimates with its third-quarter and full-year profit forecasts, boosting the prices of other airlines by double digits.
Computer chip maker NVIDIA closed with a valuation above US$4 trillion for the first time as its chief Jensen Huang was to meet with Trump before a planned trip to China.
WK Kellogg rallied 30.6% on news Italy’s Ferrero was preparing to buy the cereal maker, a deal subsequently confirmed.
Janney Montgomery Scott Chief Investment Strategist Mark Luschini said investors were reassured by the Delta update and "pretty tame" jobless claims and "increasingly desensitised" to the potential threat of tariffs to inflation and unemployment.
"At the moment, investors are looking through or not accounting for that threat and won't likely until hard evidence presents itself," Luschini was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
US government bond yields rose marginally on Thursday after an auction of 30-year Treasury bonds drew strong demand with the 10-year and two-year rates each rising 0.01% to 4.35% and 3.87% respectively.
