Wall Street rose, Nasdaq hits another record high

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo / Getty Images

Wall Street rose, pushing the Nasdaq to another record high, amid better-than-expected corporate earnings including from PayPal.

In 2.34pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4 per cent. In 2.19pm trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.1 per cent. The Nasdaq rose to a record high 6,050.46.

Shares of PayPal traded 6.9 per cent higher as of 2.39pm in New York after the company reported quarterly earnings that surpassed expectations and upgraded its full-year outlook.

In the Dow, gains in shares of Cisco and those of Home Depot, recently up 1.1 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, outweighed declines in shares of Caterpillar and those of DuPont, down 2 per cent and 1.1. per cent respectively.

Dow Chemical traded 1.3 per cent weaker as of 1.52pm in New York. The company is considering whether to retain Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris beyond his planned retirement this quarter so he can see through the US$78 billion merger with DuPont, Bloomberg reported.

The closing of the deal is expected in August amid a protracted process of gaining antitrust approvals for the merger of the two largest US chemical makers.

"With the delayed close, there has been an awful lot of dialogue," Liveris, 62, said on a conference call Thursday after Dow's first-quarter earnings beat estimates, Bloomberg reported.

"We are talking at the board level and we will have something to say very soon."

Shares of Canada's Potash Corp of Saskatchewan rose, up 2.3 per cent as of 1.38pm in Toronto, after the fertiliser producer posted a quarterly profit that beat expectations and upgraded its full-year outlook as it expects strong demand to continue through the remainder of the year.

Potash, which expects to close its merger with Agrium mid 2017, said it now expects full-year earnings of 45 US cents to 65 US cents per share, up from its January forecast for 35 US cents to 55 US cents.

"Potash market fundamentals continued to improve in the first quarter, creating a supportive earnings environment," PotashCorp Chief Executive Officer Jochen Tilk said in a statement. "We expect improved consumption trends and nutrient affordability in key markets to support potash demand and our results through the remainder of 2017.

"Our potash portfolio optimisation and cost reduction strategy, which includes the ramp-up of our low-cost Rocanville mine, also contributed to stronger first-quarter results," Tilk noted.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the day with a 0.2 per cent fall from the previous close. Germany's DAX Index slipped 0.2 per cent, while France's CAC40 Index declined 0.3 per cent and the UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.7 per cent.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi offered a mixed picture of the outlook for the region's economy and monetary policy following a meeting at which the central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged.

"The cyclical recovery of the euro area economy is becoming increasingly solid and that downside risks have further diminished," Draghi said. "At the same time, underlying inflation pressures continue to remain subdued and have yet to show a convincing upward trend."