Stocks: Dow, S&P 500 close at record highs
Wall Street continued to march further into record territory Monday as the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs again.
Investors have been pushing stocks higher on signs the U.S. economy continues to improve and as corporate earnings come in better-than-expected.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose for a fifth straight session and gained 39.81 points, or 0.2%, to close at an all-time high of 17,613.74. Earlier, the blue-chip index hit an intraday record of 17,621.87.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 6.34 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2038,25 after earlier setting an all-time intraday high of 2038.70. The S&P 500 was up for a fourth straight day. The Nasdaq composite index gained 19.08 points, or 0.4% to 4651.62.
With 90% of the S&P 500 companies reporting, 74.6% have posted earnings above Wall Street analysts’ expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. That’s better than the average 63% of companies beating estimates in a typical quarter.
As the third-quarter earnings season winds down, retail earnings will be in focus this week as Macy’s, Walmart J.C. Penney and Nordstrom report later this week.
Shares of cable companies took a tumble after President Obama strongly endorsed the concept of net neutrality and said Internet providers should not be allowed to form deals with online services to prioritize their content. Time Warner Cable (TWC) fell 4.9% to $136.50 and Comcast (CMCSA) fell 4% to $52.95.
Russia’s financial markets were in focus after the country’s central bank scrapped its daily controls on the value of the ruble, allowing the battered currency to float freely in financial markets earlier than planned. The currency has come under sustained pressure in the face of Western sanctions over Ukraine and plummeting oil prices.
The ruble has lost nearly half its value against the dollar this year. The move appears to have eased the pressure on the ruble, which strengthened sharply on the news, trading up 2.3% at 45.6 rubles a dollar in late trading.
In Asia, where China was hosting the annual meeting of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.8%to 23,774.70 and China’s Shanghai composite index shot 2.3% higher to 2473.67. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.6% to 16,780.53.
European markets were higher: Britain’s FTSE index was up 0.7% to 6611.25 and Germany’s DAX index rose 0.7% to 9351.87.
On Friday, the Dow finished up 19.46 points, or 0.1%, to close at a record 17,573.93, while the S&P 500 gained 0.71 points, or less than 0.1%, to a record close of 2031.92. The Nasdaq composite fell 5.94 points, or 0.1%, to 4632.53.
U.S. jobs data last week suggested an improving economic outlook.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Source: usatoday – Dow, S&P 500 close at record highs
