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Stocks’ meager gains lift Nasdaq composite to a new high

The American flag flies above the Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange.
The American flag flies above the Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange.
(Richard Drew / Associated Press)
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U.S. stock indexes fluttered up and down Thursday, then ended the day a hair above where they started. The slight gains were enough to nudge the Nasdaq composite to another record and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to within a whisper of its all-time high.

It was the second straight day where indexes made only modest, meandering moves, a downshift from big gains made early in the week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.32 points, or 0.1%, to 2,388.77 and is within a third of a percent of its record.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.24 points, less than 0.1%, to 20,981.33. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.71, or 0.4%, to 6,048.94 and reached a new closing high for the third time in four days.

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Gains by Under Armour, Comcast and other companies reporting stronger-than-expected profits Thursday helped offset a slump in energy stocks. The encouraging reports added to the lengthening list of companies saying they earned more in the first three months of 2017 than Wall Street forecast. Analysts expect this to be the strongest quarter of growth in years.

The reports have helped lift stocks and at least slightly temper concerns that the market had grown too expensive.

“Expectations were high, and they needed to deliver, so thankfully they have delivered,” said Nate Thooft, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management. “As long as earnings continue to follow through and economic data doesn’t roll over materially, stocks can keep going. People will say that valuations are expensive, but I would say, ‘Yeah, but not relative to fixed income.’ ”

Under Armour’s A-class shares jumped 9.9% to $21.67, the biggest gain in the S&P 500, after the company reported bigger profits than analysts expected. A rise in sales abroad, particularly in Asia, helped push its revenue to $1.12 billion, up from $1.05 billion in last year’s first quarter.

PayPal Holdings climbed 6.2% to $47.15 after also reporting stronger revenue and earnings than Wall Street forecast.

Comcast’s A shares rose 2.1% to $39.59 after stronger revenue at theme parks it acquired as part of its NBCUniversal purchase pushed its first-quarter results higher than analysts expected.

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Read more: NBCUniversal earnings soar, lifted by hit movies and Universal Studios crowds »

Even some of the day’s losers reported better-than-expected results. For example, American Airlines shares fell 5.2% to $43.98; investors were paying more attention to its plans to raise pay for pilots and flight attendants, which would erode future profits, than its earnings from the latest quarter.

Read more: American Airlines announces pay raises, and investors balk »

Energy stocks slumped with the price of oil. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 65 cents, or 1.3%, to $48.97 a barrel, while Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 38 cents to $51.44 a barrel.

Noble Energy sank 4.7% to $32.57, and offshore-drilling contractor Transocean fell 3.4% to $11.06.

The incremental moves made by stock indexes the last two days belie the many crosscurrents coursing through the market. Stocks jumped early in the week, in part on relief after the first round of France’s presidential election. Results indicate France may not try to break apart from the European Union.

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Washington is also a big factor. White House officials unveiled the broad outlines of a tax plan Wednesday, though many specifics are still to be determined. Expectations for lower taxes, plus less regulation for businesses, have helped drive stocks up since November. A potential shutdown of the federal government also looms unless Congress can agree on a spending bill.

In European stock markets, the French CAC 40 fell 0.3%, the German DAX slipped 0.2% and the FTSE 100 in London dropped 0.7%. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.2%, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.5%.

Gold rose $1.70 to $1,265.90 an ounce, silver fell 10 cents to $17.27 an ounce and copper fell 1 cent to $2.58 a pound.

Natural gas slipped 3 cents to $3.24 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.51 a gallon and wholesale gasoline fell 4 cents to $1.55 a gallon.

The euro fell to $1.0882 from $1.0899. The dollar fell to 111.23 yen from 111.38 yen. The British pound rose to $1.2903 from $1.2843.

Treasury yields ticked lower as government bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.29% from 2.30%.

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UPDATES:

2:25 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.

8:10 a.m.: This article was updated with market prices and context.

This article was originally published at 7:05 a.m.

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