US

STOCKS rose yesterday, with the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index climbing to a record high, as health-care firms rallied and smallcap shares rallied from Monday’s declines.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to 2 049.76 points at 11.16am in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 0.2 percent to 17 689.12. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap shares added 0.6 percent.

Medtronic and Actavis rebounded more than 3.9 percent to pace gains among healthcare companies. But Urban Outfitters fell 9.1 percent after the clothing retailer posted third-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates. Home Depot slipped 1.4 percent after failing to raise its forecasts for sales and profit this year amid signs the housing market is cooling.

“Consumer and investor sentiment is pretty positive,” Omar Aguilar, the chief investment officer of equities at Charles Schwab Investment Management, said. “M&A (mergers and acquisitions) is the topic of the day.” – Bloomberg