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Future U.S. stock markets remained flat in trading overnight on Wednesday after major averages hit record highs on the opening day.
Dow futures rose 24 points. S&P 500 futures rose 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.15%.
The major US airline United fell more than 2% in expanded operations on Wednesday after losing the top and bottom lines of its quarterly profits. The airline warned that it would continue to suffer sales in early 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic lengthens.
U.S. equities hit record highs on Wednesday as the last strong corporate earnings group came in, as Joe Biden was invested as commander-in-chief.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 250 points to close on a record. Microsoft had the most positive impact on the Dow, adding 52 points to the index.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4%, reaching an all-time high.
The Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 2%, closing at a record high. The heavy tech index was helped by a 16% jump in Netflix shares to the back of strong earnings and subscriber results from streaming giants.
The minimum Russell 2000 reference level was 0.44%.
Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, succeeding former President Donald Trump. During an inaugural speech in which he called on Americans to reject efforts to sow division and pledged to work for voters who did not support him, Biden declared, “Democracy has prevailed.” Biden is expected to work on his $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
Wednesday “could have less to do with the inauguration than with the start of a new profit season and with investors taking advantage of recent performance to ease winners in favor of adding unfavorable shares of the new good quarter era of earnings, ”said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group.
“Perhaps, it simply reflects a globally synchronized economic recovery driven by an unprecedented stimulus and the approach of vaccines. With a backdrop like this, it can increase regardless of who the president is,” Paulsen added.
The earnings season continues Thursday with Baker Hughes, Union Pacific and Citrix reporting ahead of the bell. Intel, IBM and CSX report after Thursday’s closing bell.
The Department of Labor will release last week’s unemployment claims data at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect 925,000 Americans to report unemployment last week, down from 965,000 the previous week.