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US stock futures held steady during overnight trading on Wednesday, after key averages hit record highs on inauguration day.
Dow futures were up 24 points. S&P 500 futures are ticking higher by 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 futures by 0.15%.
Major US carrier United fell more than 2% in expanded trading on Wednesday after missing the top and bottom lines of its quarterly results. The airline warned that sales would continue to suffer in early 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
US stocks soared to record highs on Wednesday as the latest string of strong corporate earnings came in, when Joe Biden was sworn in as commander in chief.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 250 points to close a record. Microsoft had the most positive impact on the Dow, adding 52 points to the index.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.4%, reaching a record high.
The Nasdaq Composite was up almost 2% and closed on a record. The tech-heavy index was helped by a 16% rise in Netflix shares thanks to strong earnings from the streaming giants and subscribers.
The small cap benchmark Russell 2000 declined 0.44%.
Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president on Wednesday, succeeding former President Donald Trump. In an inaugural address calling on Americans to reject attempts to divide and pledge to work for voters who did not support him, Biden stated, “Democracy has prevailed.” Biden is expected to work on his proposed $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
Wednesday “may have less to do with the inauguration than the start of a new earnings season and with investors taking advantage of recent performance to lighten winners in favor of adding some out-of-favor new-era stocks into that good earnings quarter.” , said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group.
“Perhaps it simply reflects a globally synchronized economic recovery, spurred by unprecedented stimulus and the approach of vaccinations. With such a backdrop, it could rise no matter who the president is,” added Paulsen.
The earnings season continues on Thursday with Baker Hughes, Union Pacific and Citrix reporting before the bell. Intel, IBM and CSX report on Thursday after the closing bell.
The Labor Department will release data on unemployment benefits from last Thursday at 8:30 am. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 925,000 Americans to file for unemployment last week, down from 965,000 last week.