Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 18 OctOber 2017
A25

UnitedHealth Stock indexes close mixed; new highs for Dow, S&P

beats forecast; 1.72 points, or 0.1 percent,
Optum assists to 2,559.36. The Dow picked
up 40.48 points, or 0.2 per-
By TOM MURPHY cent, to 22,997.44. The Nas-
Associated Press daq composite slipped
UnitedHealth Group’s third- 0.35 points, or 0.01 percent,
quarter earnings soared to 6,623.66. The Russell 2000
26 percent to beat Wall index of smaller-company
Street expectations as the stocks fell 5.18 points, or 0.3
nation’s largest health in- percent, to 1,497.50.
surer sold more coverage More stocks fell than rose
to retirees and continued on the New York Stock Ex-
to grow its business outside change.
insurance. The major stock indexes
The company also raised drifted between small gains
its forecast for 2017 again and losses for much of the
and signaled that it ex- day.
pects more growth next Early on, traders eyed big
year. Its shares then shot up company earnings news
past $200 to reach another from Goldman Sachs, Mor-
all-time high after markets gan Stanley, UnitedHealth
opened. Group and Johnson &
UnitedHealth said Tuesday Johnson, among others.
that it gained nearly 1 mil- Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Gains by health care UnitedHealth, the coun-
lion more customers com- companies led U.S. stock indexes mostly higher Tuesday, pushing the market further into record try’s biggest health insurer,
pared to last year’s quar- territory. jumped 5.5 percent after re-
ter, largely due to growth By ALEX VEIGA (AP Photo/Richard Drew) porting earnings that beat
in its Medicare and retire- week. Trading was mostly listless analyst estimates. The stock
ment business. AP Business Writer Health care companies as investors sized up the gained $10.69 to $203.89.
UnitedHealth is the nation’s Gains by health care com- posted some of the big- latest company earnings Johnson & Johnson added
largest provider of Medi- panies led U.S. stock index- gest gains following strong news and looked ahead 3.4 percent after reporting
care Advantage plans, es mostly higher Tuesday, earnings from United- to a full slate of corporate a strong quarter of its own.
which are privately run ver- pushing the market further Health Group and John- report cards later this week. Its shares picked up $4.67
sions of the government’s into record territory. son & Johnson. News of a “Expectations of ongoing to $140.79. Health insurers,
Medicare program for the The Dow Jones industrial plan backed by the White earnings growth are rea- hospitals and other health
elderly and disabled peo- average briefly climbed House that would extend sonably strong, but there care companies also rose
ple. above the 23,000 mark for federal payments to health may be a bit of a wait- as two leading lawmakers
That gain more than coun- the first time, settling just insurers also gave the sec- and-see at this point in time reached a deal on a plan
tered a revenue hit the in- below the milestone. Slight tor a boost. Banks and oth- given the run in the equity that would extend federal
surer took from the deferral gains nudged the Dow and er financial stocks declined markets,” said Jason Pride, payments to health insur-
of an insurance tax and Standard & Poor’s 500 in- the most. Packaged food director of investment strat- ers that President Donald
the company’s decision to dexes to new highs for the and beverage companies egy at Glenmede. Trump had blocked last
scale back its presence on second straight day this were also big laggards. The S&P 500 index added week.q
the Affordable Care Act’s
insurance marketplaces Goldman Sachs’ results beat Q3 forecasts
to only a few states after
booking big losses. By KEN SWEET to post a profit of $4.17 a ness was $1.45 billion, down performs with the assets on
Operating earnings grew AP Business Writer share, according to Fact- 26 percent from a year its books, was 10.9 percent
14 percent to $2.4 billion NEW YORK (AP) — Gold- Set. earlier. Markets have been in the quarter. q
for the company’s main man Sachs’ third-quarter Goldman’s trading desks, abnormally quiet this year,
business, health insurance, profits fell 3 percent from a which are weighted toward which has hurt investment
as total enrollment topped year earlier, as the trading bonds, currencies and banks’ trading profits since
49 million people. But its desks at Wall Street’s big- commodities, struggled they benefit when markets
Optum segment also saw gest investment bank were this quarter, as did those at are more active.
earnings increase to $1.7 weighed down by a slow its competitors JPMorgan Goldman’s return on com-
billion. summer that also affected Chase, Citigroup and Bank mon equity, a measure-
Optum provides pharma- most of its competition. The of America. ment of a bank’s profitabil-
cy benefits management results still beat analysts’ Net revenue in that busi- ity by showing how well it
and technology services forecasts, however.
and also operates clinics The Wall Street bank said it
and doctor’s offices. earned a profit of $2.04 bil-
Overall, the Minnetonka, lion, or $5.02 a share, com-
Minnesota, company pared with a profit of $2.10
earned nearly $2.49 billion billion, or $4.88 a share, in
as revenue grew 9 percent the same period a year
to $50.32 billion. Adjusted earlier. The firm’s per-share
earnings totaled $2.66 per profit rose because there
share. are fewer Goldman shares
Analysts expected earn- outstanding compared
ings of $2.56 per share on with the same period a
$50.35 billion in revenue, year ago. Analysts had
according to FactSet.q been looking for Goldman