Stocks Opened Mixed after Monday’s Sell-off
-- Tuesday, October 27, 2020, 9:51 --
U.S. stocks opened mixed on Tuesday after suffering their worst sell-off in more than a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 59.72 points, or 0.22%, to 27,625.66. The S&P 500 was down 1.93 points, or 0.06%, to 3,399.04. The Nasdaq Composite gained 35.19 points, or 0.31%, to 11,394.13.
Oil futures recovered some ground early Tuesday, finding support as another major storm weighed on output in the Gulf of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery rose 38 cents, or 1%, to $38.94 a barrel. December Brent crude gained 39 cents, or 1%, to trade at $41.20 a barrel.
U.S. home-price growth accelerated in August as pandemic-era home-buying surge pushes up prices. Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index posted a 5.7% annual gain in August, up from 4.8% in July.
Orders for goods intended to last three years or more jumped by a far greater margin than expected in September, the Commerce Department said in its preliminary monthly report Tuesday, pointing to a stronger recovery for the manufacturing sector. Durable goods orders rose 1.9% in September after a revised 0.4% increase in August, marking a fifth straight monthly gain.
JetBlue (JBLU) on Tuesday posted third-quarter sales and earnings that were better than feared. Operating revenue of $492 million dropped 76% over last year, but still topped estimates for about $463 million. Its adjusted loss per share of $1.75 was narrower than the loss of $1.90 a share expected.
3M (MMM) returned to quarterly growth after posting shrinking sales in the second quarter, as demand for the company’s medical equipment being used against COVID-19 jumped. Revenue grew nearly 5% over last year to $8.4 billion. Adjusted earnings of $2.43 per share beat estimates for $2.26.
Caterpillar (CAT) on Tuesday posted third-quarter results that topped consensus expectations, with adjusted earnings of $1.34 per share on revenue of $9.88 billion each ahead of estimates for $1.13 per share on revenue of $9.19 billion.
