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US futures were fixed in overnight trading on Wednesday, after major averages hit record highs on the opening day.
Dow futures rose 24 points. The S&P 500 futures ticked 0.05% higher, and the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.15%.
The main American airline United fell more than 2% in extended transactions on Wednesday, after failing on the upper and lower lines of its quarterly earnings. The airline has warned that sales will continue to suffer in early 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
US stocks rose to record highs as the latest strong corporate revenue batch entered, while Joe Biden was sworn in as commander-in-chief.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose by more than 250 points to close at a record high. Microsoft had the most positive impact on the Dow, adding 52 points to the index.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4% to an all-time high.
Nasdaq Composite was up almost 2%, closing at a record high. The heavy tech index was helped by a 16% increase in Netflix stock on the back of streaming giants, strong earnings and subscriber results.
The Russell 2000 small capital benchmark decreased by 0.44%.
Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president on Wednesday, replacing former President Donald Trump. During an inaugural speech urging Americans to reject divisive efforts and pledging to work for voters who did not support him, Biden said, “Democracy has prevailed.” Biden is expected to work on his $ 1.9 trillion bill to save the coronavirus.
Wednesday “may have less to do with the inauguration than with the start of a new earnings season and investors taking advantage of recent performance to ease winners in favor of adding shares to the new era, which could lead to a good quarter of earnings, “said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group.
“Perhaps it simply reflects a globally synchronized economic recovery, stimulated by an unprecedented stimulus and the approach of vaccinations. With a background like this, it can grow no matter who the president is,” Paulsen added.
The earnings season continues on Thursday, with Baker Hughes, Union Pacific and Citrix reporting in front of the bell. Intel, IBM and CSX report after Thursday’s closing bell.
The Department of Labor will publish data on unemployment complaints last week at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones expect 925,000 Americans to be unemployed last week, down from 965,000 the previous week.