FINANCIAL MARKETS
A day of modest gains on Wall Street resulted in more milestones for U.S. stocks Wednesday as the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 23,000 points for the first time.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite also finished at record highs.
Technology stocks and financial companies led the gainers as investors weighed the latest batch of company earnings. Strong quarterly results drove IBM shares to their biggest one-day gain since 2009. Those gains accounted for much of the 30-company Dow’s record high.
All told, the Dow picked up 160.16 points, or 0.7 percent, to 23,157.60. The S&P 500 index rose 1.90 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,561.26. The Nasdaq added 0.56 points, or 0.01 percent, to 6,624.22. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 7.65 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,505.14. The S&P 500 and Dow also set records on Monday and Tuesday.
The Dow closed above 22,000 for the first time on Aug 2, and since then the best-performing components have been Boeing, Caterpillar,
Despite the market’s recent string of record highs and the Dow’s latest milestone, stocks can still grind higher as long as the economy continues to expand and companies grow revenue, said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.
IBM jumped 8.9 percent after the technology and consulting company delivered strong quarterly results. The gain was the biggest one-day jump for IBM since January 2009. Even so, the stock remains down 3.9 percent for the year.
IBM’s gain was responsible for 89 points of the Dow’s increase. Gains by Goldman Sachs accounted for another 40 points of the 30-company average’s climb.
The Nielsen company climbed 4.2 percent after the long-time tracker of TV viewership said it now has a way to collect details on the number of people who watch programs on streaming video services like Netflix and Amazon. Nielsen said that eight television networks and studios, including ABC and NBC, have already subscribed to its new service. The stock rose $1.69 to $41.69.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.34 percent from 2.30 percent late Tuesday.
Oil prices recovered from an early slide. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 16 cents to settle at $52.04 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 27 cents to close at $58.15 a barrel in London.
Shares in drilling and oil production companies declined, part of a steep slide in energy stocks. Range Resources slid 45 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $19.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose a penny to $1.64 a gallon. Heating oil slipped a penny to $1.80 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 11 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $2.85 per 1,000 cubic feet.