Stocks rise again, led by industrials
U.S. stocks climbed for the fourth straight day Tuesday as strong earnings continued to pull the market closer to the all-time high it set in late January.
Industrial firms rose, and banks moved higher as interest rates increased. Gains for Microsoft and Google’s parent, Alphabet, helped the technology sector.
Companies including Hertz, Etsy and Mosaic climbed after their results beat forecasts. Tesla surged after Chief Executive Elon Musk said he might take the company private.
Gina Martin Adams, chief equity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, said companies’ huge profit and revenue growth has nudged concerns about U.S. trade tensions out of investors’ minds.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 8.05 points, or 0.3%, to 2,858.45. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 126.73 points, or 0.5%, to 25,628.91. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.99 points, or 0.3%, to 7,883.66. The Russell 2000 index edged up 3.99 points, or 0.2%, to 1,688.30.
Rental car company Hertz soared 24.6% to $19.53, its biggest gain in almost a decade. But the stock is still down 12% for the year.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.98% from 2.95%. Shares of banks and financial firms climbed as interest rates rose.
Tesla stock jumped after a report that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had invested in the automaker. It soared further after Musk tweeted that he might take Tesla private and shareholders could be bought out at $420 a share. The stock jumped 11% to $379.57.
Online real estate marketplace Zillow fell 14.8% to $49.56 after it cut its revenue forecast for the year and said it’s buying Mortgage Lenders of America.
Weight Watchers International sank 14.8% to $78.53. The weight loss company raised its forecasts for the year but said it lost subscribers in the second quarter.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said health insurer Cigna shouldn’t buy pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts. He said that the $52-billion deal costs too much and that Express Scripts faces several major threats. Icahn owns Cigna stock and has bet Express Scripts stock will fall. But both stocks rose Tuesday. Express Scripts climbed 2.8% to $78.95, and Cigna edged up 0.2% to $188.27.
U.S. crude oil rose 0.2% to $69.17 a barrel. Brent crude rose 1.2% to $74.65 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 1.9% to $2.10 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1.4% to $2.17 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1.3% to $2.90 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold was little changed at $1,218.30 an ounce. Silver rose 0.2% to $15.37 an ounce. Copper rose 0.8% to $2.75 a pound.
The dollar rose to 111.43 yen from 111.40 yen. The euro rose to $1.1594 from $1.1556.