Stocks keep up strong 2018 start

The stock market’s perfect start to the year rolled on, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index shook off a bit of weakness Monday to advance further into record territory.

Stocks slipped in early trading, and the S&P 500 was on pace for its first down day of the year. But accelerating gains for dividendpaying and technology stocks helped offset losses in the healthcare industry, and the index eked out a fifth straight gain. Other U.S. indexes edged higher or held close to their record levels.

“We’re getting a bit tired hearing ourselves talking about the solid economic backdrop and strong earnings growth, but that is the backdrop,” said Jon Adams, senior investment strategist for BMO Global Asset Management. He is optimistic that stocks can keep rising from their record levels because of these trends, even though the market is more expensive than it usually is relative to corporate profits.

One of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 came from Kohl’s, which jumped 4.7% to $56.90 after it raised its earnings forecast for the year.

High-dividend stocks were also strong, with utilities up 0.9%, the biggest gain of the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500. They got help from falling Treasury yields, which make dividends more attractive to investors seeking income. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.47% from 2.48%.

Nvidia climbed 3.1% to $222 after the chip maker said it will work with Uber to develop the computing system for a fleet of autonomous cars.

GoPro plunged 12.8% to $6.56 after it said its revenue fell sharply last quarter and announced changes.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment dived 22.3% to $43.79 after the restaurant and arcade chain said sales worsened in December and it cut its income and sales forecasts.

NuVasive slid 8.9% to $55.56 after the maker of spinal devices gave a disappointing forecast for 2018.

Earnings are one of the best predictors for the longterm performance of stocks, and a deluge of companies is set to begin reporting their results for the last three months of 2017. The pace will pick up later this week, and analysts and investors probably will be most focused on chief executives’ expectations for future earnings.

The dollar fell to 113.07 yen from 113.14 yen. The euro fell to $1.1965 from $1.2050.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 29 cents to $61.73 a barrel. Brent crude rose 16 cents to $67.78 a barrel. Natural gas rose 4 cents to $2.84 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil fell 1 cent to $2.05 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to $1.79 a gallon.

Gold fell $1.90 to $1,320.40 an ounce. Silver fell 14 cents to $17.14 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $3.22 a pound.