Stocks end higher, bringing S&P 500 to cusp of a record

Solid earnings from health care companies helped send stocks higher on Wall Street Wednesday and pushed the benchmark S&P 500 to the brink of another record high.

The market has been gaining ground as investors shift their focus to the latest round of corporate earnings. Stocks have been choppy for weeks as rising inflation and lackluster economic data raised concerns about the path ahead for the economic recovery.

The S&P 500 rose 16.56 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,536.19. It’s the sixth straight gain for the benchmark index and puts it less than a point from the alltime high it set on Sept. 2.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152.03 points, or 0.4 percent, to 35,609.34. The Nasdaq fell 7.41 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,121.68.

“The reason we’re seeing this rally over the last week is that company earnings are looking really good,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs. “Most companies are managing inflationary pressures and pricing issues and that’s helping to alleviate concerns about overvaluation and inflation.”

Wall Street cheered solid earnings from a variety of health care companies. Abbott Laboratories, which makes infant formula, medical devices and drugs, rose 3.3 percent after handily beating analysts’ thirdquarter profit forecasts. Health insurer Anthem rose 7.7 percent after also reporting strong financial results. Technology stocks lagged the broader market.

Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.65 percent from 1.63 percent late Tuesday.

Netflix fell 2.2 percent after forecasting earnings for its current quarter that were below analysts’ estimates.

PayPal fell 4.9 percent following reports that it is considering buying digital pinboard and shopping tool Pinterest, which jumped 12.8 percent.

Investors are busy reviewing the latest report cards from companies as they try to get a clearer understanding of how rising inflation and the lingering threat from COVID-19 will affect the economy.