Tech, healthcare take stocks higher
The market’s biggest winners this year, tech and healthcare, powered U.S. stock indexes to more alltime highs Tuesday.
Huge technology companies such as Apple and Facebook continued their ascent, while strong reports from companies including medical device maker Medtronic and construction and technical services company Jacobs Engineering helped healthcare and industrial companies, respectively.
Apple, Facebook, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon, the five most valuable companies on the stock market, all rose more than 1%, and they’ve all had a strong year.
“They’re seeing better earnings, better sales, better growth,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. “It’s difficult to argue with that.”
The S&P 500 index climbed 16.89 points, or 0.7%, to 2,599.03. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 160.50 points, or 0.7%, to 23,590.83. The Nasdaq composite added 71.76 points, or 1.1%, to 6,862.48.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose for a fourth day and picked up 15.49 points, or 1%, to 1,518.89. All four indexes set records.
Home builders climbed after the National Assn. of Realtors said sales of homes grew in October. They’re down slightly from last year because there are so few houses on the market, but the tight supply and rising prices have sent home builder stocks soaring this year. On Tuesday, NVR advanced $59.69, or 1.8%, to $3,377, while D.R. Horton gained $1.15, or 2.4%, to $49.35.
Along with those reports, investors were cheered by projections from Goldman Sachs analyst David Kostin, who forecast that the S&P 500 will rise 14% in 2018 if corporate taxes are cut.
Kinahan said the potential tax cuts might help stocks in another way: Usually, investors might sell some of their holdings after a better-than-expected year like this one. But right now, they’re not sure what their taxes will look like in 2018.
“People may not be taking profits as aggressively at the end of this year as they would in a normal year because they’re not sure where the tax plan will come out,” he said.
Signet Jewelers plunged $23.05, or 30.4%, to $52.79 after the company slashed its annual forecast. The company recently sold its highest-quality loans to Alliance Data Systems but said “disruptions” related to that move have affected sales, especially for its Kay brand.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.36% from 2.37%.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 41 cents to $56.84 a barrel in New York, while Brent crude, the international standard, added 35 cents to $62.57 a barrel in London.
Gold rose $6.40 to $1,281.70 an ounce. The dollar slipped to 112.44 yen from 112.67 yen. The euro rose to $1.1742 from $1.1732.