The Dow Jones industrial average closes above 23,000 for the first time.
A day of modest gains on Wall Street resulted in more milestones for U.S. stocks Wednesday as the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 23,000 points for the first time.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite also finished at record highs.
Technology stocks and financial companies led the gainers as investors weighed the latest batch of company earnings. Strong quarterly results drove IBM shares to their biggest one-day gain since 2009. Those gains accounted for much of the 30-company Dow’s record high.
“For us it’s just another indication that it is a strong market here, year-to-date,” said Paul Springmeyer, investment managing director for US Bank Private Wealth Management.
The Dow closed above 22,000 for the first time on Aug 2, and since then the best-performing components have been Boeing, Caterpillar, Goldman, Home Depot and 3M. The Dow is up 3,395 points this year, or 17.2 percent.
Despite the market’s recent string of record highs and the Dow’s latest milestone, stocks can still grind higher as long as the economy continues to expand and companies grow revenue, said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.
“Overall, the underpinning for the market is solid,” Krosby said. “You have global growth picking up the way it has over the last quarter, it’s an indication that demand is picking up as well and it’s why you have global markets doing well.”
Investors continued to size up the latest raft of company earnings Wednesday. They also weighed corporate deals and other developments making the news.
Anthem, a major U.S. health insurer, rose 2.4 percent after announcing that it has entered a prescription benefits management deal with CVS. Anthem shares added $4.53 to $191.79. CVS climbed $1.47, or 2 percent, to $74.10.
The Nielsen company rose 4.2 percent after the longtime tracker of TV viewership said it now has a way to collect details on the number of people who watch programs on streaming video services like Netflix and Amazon. Nielsen said that eight television networks and studios, including ABC and NBC, have already subscribed to its new service. The stock rose $1.69 to $41.69.