Job figures help stocks hit records
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose to record highs Tuesday as banks kept rising and retailers climbed after some encouraging job data.
It was the second straight day for big gains in bank stocks as bond yields pushed higher, which allows banks to charge higher rates on loans. Retailers rose after the Labor Department said job openings and hiring both grew in July, and more people quit their jobs to take new ones. That left investors hopeful people will shop and spend more.
Chemicals company DowDuPont climbed after making changes to its breakup plans, something activist investors had pushed for. Apple’s newest iPhones didn’t generate much excitement on Wall Street.
The bond market is “moving back to a comfort zone,” said Matt Toms, the chief investment officer for Voya Investment Management’s fixed income business. “Just enough growth, just enough inflation, but not too much of either.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished at a record high for the second straight day, and the Dow Jones industrial average finished a fraction of a point above the record it set in early August. The Nasdaq surpassed the record it set on Sept. 1.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.16 percent after it jumped to 2.13 percent Monday. That helped banks.
Stocks were coming off their best day since late April. They rose Monday as Hurricane Irma weakened without doing as much damage as some forecasts had predicted last week. Investors were also relieved that tensions between the U.S. and North Korea didn’t get any worse after a national holiday there.
Job openings posted by U.S. employers rose 0.9 percent to 6.2 million in July, the Labor Department said. That’s the highest on records dating to 2000.
Hiring also increased and more people quit their jobs, which often means they are leaving for jobs that pay better. That helped smaller, domestically focused companies and retailers.
More job openings were posted in construction and manufacturing, along with health care, professional and business services, and the information sector.
Tuesday’s figures on job openings follow a government report Friday that employers added 156,000 jobs in August.