Nasdaq gains led by Tesla, S&P 500 falls slightly from 6-week high

The S&P 500 dipped Thursday as traders assessed the latest batch of corporate earnings. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq got a boost from Tesla shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 144 points, or 0.45%. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.05%.

Those moves come as Wall Street is enjoying a July rebound. All three major averages hit their highest levels in more than a month during Wednesday's session, with the S&P 500 reaching its best closing level since June 9.

Tesla shares jumped 4% after the automaker reported stronger-than-expected earnings but shrinking automotive gross margins.

Shares of Alcoa and CSX jumped after the companies beat expectations.

American Airlines beat revenue expectations in the second quarter, and forecasted a profit in the third quarter, as consumers continue to travel even with higher prices. Shares fell 7%.

United Airlines reported that it returned to profitability during the second quarter, but results came in below expectations. The stock fell 9%.

Roughly 18% of S&P 500 have reported earnings for the second quarter. Of those companies, about 71% have beaten expectations, according to FactSet.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims continued their upward trend and touched their highest level since November 2021. Initial claims climbed to 251,000 for the week of July 16, up from an adjusted 244,000 claims from the prior week, in its third straight weekly gain.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank on Thursday raised interest rates for the first time in 11 years to combat inflation in the euro zone. The central bank raised benchmark rates by 50 basis points.

Tech rally

The Nasdaq Composite jumped nearly 1.6% on Wednesday, its fourth positive session in five. The tech-heavy index is up about 3.9% for the week.

Meanwhile, the Dow and S&P 500 each rose for the third day in four. The blue-chip index is up nearly 1.9% for the week, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.5% thus far.

"The bulls seem to be coming back into the market now. We've seen pretty sharp rallies in tech, crypto and other risk assets over the past few days," said Callie Cox, U.S. investment analyst at eToro. "Which is notable to us, because in an economy with some pretty notable weakness in it, you'd expect to be seeing other parts of the market performing well. But the animal spirits are back, at least for now."

In other corporate news, shares of Carnival dropped more than 14% after the cruise company announced that it was selling an additional $1 billion of stock.