Stock futures dipped slightly in overnight trading Thursday after the S&P 500 reached new highs.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 15 points. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7%.
In Thursday’s regular session, the S&P 500 notched both a fresh intraday high and new record close. The broad index rose 0.3% for its seventh consecutive positive session. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%, while the Dow shed 6.26 points, or 0.02%.
Investors digested a slew of corporate earnings reports. Tesla shares closed 3% higher Thursday, providing support to the S&P 500 and Nadaq Composite.
Companies are posting strong profits so far this third-quarter reporting season despite supply chain and inflation headwinds. Out of 101 S&P 500 members that have reported financial results, 82.6% have topped earnings expectations, according to FactSet as of Thursday after the bell.
“In a quarter where we thought things would slow down and there was concern about what profit margins were going to look like, these companies are still doing well,” said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments.
Strong jobs data also added to the positive market sentiment. Initial jobless claims fell to a new pandemic low of 290,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday — down 6,000 from the previous week and lower than the 300,000 expected from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
All three major averages are on track to close the week higher for three-straight weeks of gains. On the month, all three indexes are up at least 5%.
Investors await earnings reports Friday from companies including American Express, Honeywell, Schlumberger and Cleveland-Cliffs.