Banks and technology lead stocks higher for 4th day in a row

NEW YORK—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 companies rose Tuesday and banks moved higher as interest rates increased. Gains for Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet helped technology companies.

Companies including Hertz, Etsy and Mosaic climbed after their results surpassed investors’ forecasts. Tesla surged after CEO Elon Musk later said he might take the company private.

The S&P 500 index rose 8.05 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,858.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 126.73 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,628.91. The Nasdaq composite gained 23.99 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,883.66. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks edged up 3.99 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,688.30.

The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high Jan. 26. After that, it dropped 10 percent in nine days as investors worried about signs that inflation was accelerating. That hasn’t materialized, but trade fears have weighed on the market since then.

Rental car company Hertz soared 24.6 percent to $19.53, its biggest gain in almost a decade. But even with that huge gain, the stock is still down 12 percent for the year.

A little more than four years ago, Hertz stock traded above $120 a share. It plunged as the company dealt with overcapacity in the rental car market and the value of its vehicles decreased. Hertz has changed CEOs twice in four years.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.98 percent from 2.95 percent. Banks and financial companies also climbed as interest rates rose.

Tesla stock climbed after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had invested in the company. It soared further after Musk tweeted that he might take the electric car maker private.

He followed up with a blog post saying he hadn’t made a decision, but such a move would make it easier for Tesla to focus on long-term goals.

Musk, who owns about 20 percent of Tesla’s stock, said he would pay $420 a share, well above Tesla’s all-time high from September. The stock gained 11 percent to $379.57.

Dental products maker Dentsply cut its forecasts and took a $1.26 billion charge connected to its technology and equipment business. The company said sales and profit margins have been weaker than expected and it plans to restructure its business. The stock dropped 18.7 percent to $39.41.

Online real estate marketplace Zillow cut its revenue forecast for the year and also said it’s buying Mortgage Lenders of America. Terms weren’t disclosed. The stock fell 14.8 percent to $49.56.

Weight Watchers International sank 14.8 percent to $78.53. The weight loss company raised its forecasts for the year, but said it lost subscribers in the second quarter.

The stock was worth about $6 per share in October 2015 when the company announced a deal with Oprah Winfrey to promote its products.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said health insurer Cigna shouldn’t buy pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts. He said the $52 billion deal costs too much and that Express Scripts faces several major threats.

Icahn owns Cigna stock and has bet that Express Scripts stock will fall. But both stocks rose Tuesday. Express Scripts gained 2.8 percent to $78.95 and Cigna rose 0.2 percent to $188.27.

Cigna is up 5 percent since the Wall Street Journal reported that Icahn is against the deal. Express Scripts is down less than 1 percent.

U.S. crude oil picked up 0.2 percent to $69.17 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 1.2 percent to $74.65 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline added 1.9 percent to $2.10 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1.4 percent to $2.17 a gallon. Natural gas gained 1.3 percent to $2.90 per 1,000 cubic feet.