Business

The Dow rose 218 points, or 0.5%, and topped its prior all-time high, which was set early this month.

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press

updated on October 21, 2025 | 4:29 PM

3 minutes to read

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record on Tuesday as the floodgates opened for companies reporting how much profit they made during the summer.

The Dow rose 218 points, or 0.5%, and topped its prior all-time high, which was set early this month. The S&P 500 index, which is much more important on Wall Street and dictates the performance of many more 401(k) accounts, was essentially flat and finished 0.3% below its own record, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%.

3M helped drive the Dow to its record after reporting bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock had the biggest jump in price among the 30 companies that make up the average.

In the more representative S&P 500 index, General Motors helped lead the way and rallied 14.9% after reporting stronger quarterly results than analysts expected, while also raising its forecasts for some full-year financial targets. CEO Mary Barra said it’s moving quickly to reduce its losses in 2026 and beyond for its electric-vehicle business, as “it is now clear” that EV adoption will be lower than planned.

RTX, the aerospace and defense company, rose 7.7%, and Coca-Cola climbed 4.1% after they likewise reported profit for the latest quarter that topped Wall Street’s profit expectations.

Warner Bros. Discovery leaped 11% after the company said it’s now considering other options besides its previously announced split of Discovery Global off Warner Bros., ones that could be more profitable for shareholders. The company said it may be changing course after hearing from “multiple parties” interested in either the entire company or Warner Bros.

Keeping the market in check were drops for some Big Tech stocks, which lost momentum following their own big rallies. A 2.4% drop for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, from its all-time high was among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. So were Broadcom’s 1.9% fall and Nvidia’s 0.8% decline.

All told, the S&P 500 edged up by 0.22 to 6,735.35 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 218.16 to 46,924.74, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 36.88 to 22,953.67.

Other big recent winners in financial markets also took a pause. The price of gold fell 5.7% from its latest record, dropping back to $4,109.10 per ounce. It’s still up nearly 56% for the year so far.

The pressure is on companies to show that their profits are growing following a torrid rally of 35% for the S&P 500 from a low in April. It’s one way they can justify their high stock prices amid criticism that they’re too expensive.

Corporate earnings reports have also gained importance because they offer some details on the strength of the U.S. economy when the U.S. government’s shutdown has delayed important economic updates. The delays are making the job of the Federal Reserve more difficult, as it tries to decide whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger issue for the economy.

Despite the shutdown, the Commerce Department will release its report on for U.S. consumers Friday, which could help guide the Fed’s policy on what to do with interest rates. It’s the government’s first data release since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3% and crept closer to the 50,000 level as conservative lawmaker Sanae Takaichi became the country’s prime minister. Investors expect her to push for lower interest rates and other policies that could help the market.

Indexes rose 1.4% in Shanghai and 0.7% in Hong Kong amid expectations that President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month during a regional summit. That’s raised hopes for an easing of trade tensions between the world’s biggest economies.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 3.95% from 4.00% late Monday.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.