Wall Street: Tesla keeps Nasdaq afloat, AT&T forecast weighs on S&P 500

Tesla shares rise as profit tops expectations; airlines slide after United, American report earnings; energy stocks lead sectoral declines

The Nasdaq rose on Thursday as electric automaker Tesla topped Wall Street's profit target, while the benchmark S&P 500 edged lower due to losses in telecom stocks after AT&T cut its cash flow forecast.

Tesla rose 5.5% as its quarterly profit benefited from a string of price increases for its cars and helped offset production challenges.
 

Positive earnings reports from Tesla and streaming giant Netflix Inc have of late boosted megacap growth stocks, which have been under pressure from rising interest rates.

Shares of Netflix rose 0.3%.

"Is it possible that Tesla provides a short term rally? Yes, absolutely," said