Investors take an interest in banks

ALEX VEIGA

Banks and other financial companies led U.S. stocks modestly higher Thursday, nudging the Nasdaq composite index to an all-time high.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.17 points, or 0.3 percent, to 20,728.49. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 6.93 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,368.06. The Nasdaq gained 16.80 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,914.34. Small-company stocks fared better than the other indexes, sending the Russell 2000 index up 10.70 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,382.35. The four stock indexes last set record highs on March 1.

Bond prices edged lower. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.41 percent from 2.38 percent late Wednesday.

Rising bond yields, which can result in higher interest rates on loans and bigger profits for banks, helped put traders in the mood to buy banking stocks. Energy companies also notched gains as crude oil prices rose. Utilities and other high-dividend stocks fell.

Investors also bid up shares in companies that released strong quarterly results or announced big transactions. ConocoPhillips jumped 8.8 percent after the energy company agreed to sell most of its Canadian assets.

“Equities are ending the first quarter in a reasonably good place,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “I do think equities trend sideways, probably for the next month. The rally since the election [is about] tax reform and infrastructure spending, and that’s still a work in progress.”

Trading was mostly subdued when markets opened Thursday after mixed trading overseas. But soon investors got another batch of encouraging economic news: The Commerce Department raised its estimate for economic growth in the fourth quarter to 2.1 percent from 1.9 percent, noting that consumer spending increased more than expected. And the Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week.

Financial sector stocks rose 1.2 percent, the biggest gain among the 11 sectors in the S&P 500. The sector, which is up 2.8 percent this year, accounted for more than half of the index’s gains Thursday.

Traders bid up shares in big banks such as Capital One Financial, which rose $2.46, or 2.9 percent, to $87.14.

“What we know is that probably interest rates are rising and the Fed is going to raise rates, and that probably less regulation is on the way, and that might be why sometimes you see financials kick up on a day like this,” Lynch said.

ConocoPhillips jumped after the energy company agreed to sell most of its Canadian assets to Canada’s Cenovus Energy in a deal valued at $13.2 billion. The stock was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 index, climbing $4.05 to $50.

In energy futures trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 84 cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $50.35 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 54 cents, or 1 percent, to $52.96 a barrel in London.