The Dow Jones opened higher on Wednesday as the stock market tried to stay positive and Treasury yields declined. Airline stocks were top performers in the morning, providing some relief from negative news about flight safety.
At mid-morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, or 64 points, to 37,863. The S&P 500 gained 0.15% and the Nasdaq Composite was flat.
On the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped about four basis points to 4.62%.
United Airlines fly high after earnings report
United Airlines stock rose over 10% to $46 in mid-morning after the airline released a strong earnings report. In its first-quarter earnings report, released yesterday, the airline reported strong demand for travel and a rebound in business travel.
United reported a loss of $124 million. It said it would have turned a profit had it not been for the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets in January. Those groundings cost United Airlines about $200 million, the company said. The airliners were grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration after a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight.
But United Airlines still modestly beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations. For the period, the company posted revenue of $12.54 billion. Analysts had forecast revenue of $12.43 billion.
American Airlines, Delta, and Southwest also soar
Airline stocks were top performers Wednesday morning and moved up in sympathy with United Airlines. American Airlines shares were up 3.7%, Delta Air Lines shares were up 2.4%, and Southwest Airlines shares were up 2.2%.
The surge in the stock comes a day after the Biden administration announced it was enforcing consumer protection laws on airline travelers with the help of officials in 15 states.
Trump Media jumps over 12% after days of decline
Trump Media stock was finally up after a series of downtrends. In mid-morning, the stock was trading nearly 12% to $25.
Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind former President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, recently announced that it’s launching a streaming platform. Truth Social will stream live TV, the company said, including news, religious channels, “family-friendly content,” as well as “other content that has been canceled, is at risk of cancellation or is being suppressed on other platforms and services.”
–Rocio Fabbro and Francisco Velasquez contributed to this article