Tech gains push stock markets to new heights

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and notched its second all-time high in two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1%, good enough for its third straight record high. The Nasdaq also edged up less than 0.1%.

Solid earnings reports helped lift several major companies. UPS jumped

6.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 as higher shipping rates helped the package delivery service easily beat analyst’s third-quarter profit forecasts. Hasbro rose 3.2% after the maker of Transformers, My Little Pony and other toys reported solid financial results.

The S&P 500 rose 8.31 points to 4,574.79. The benchmark index has posted three weekly gains in a row and leads the other major indexes with a 21.8% gain this year. The Dow added 15.73 points to 35,756.88, while the Nasdaq inched up 9.01 points to 15,235.71. The Russell 2000 index lost 16.56 points, or 0.7%, to 2,296.08.

Chipmaker Nvidia led the way with a 6.7% gain. Health care stocks and a mix of companies that rely on consumer spending for goods and services also made solid gains.

Only communications and industrial stocks fell. Facebook slid 3.9% after giving investors a weak sales forecast. The company is also facing scrutiny over its seemingly lax regulation of harmful and misleading information on its platform.

Bond yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.61% from 1.63% from late Monday.

Apple and Amazon report Thursday. The companies, along with Microsoft and Google, are the four biggest companies on Wall Street by market value and their stocks affected the S&P 500.