Airlines, autos give indexes a lift

Markets were mostly quiet, with no big economic news and few quarterly reports.

Airline and automaker stocks took off on Tuesday and helped U.S. indexes push a bit further into record territory. Trading was again quiet overall, with only modest moves for bond yields, commodities and other markets.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.46 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,534.58 for its sixth straight day of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 84.07, or 0.4 percent, to 22,641.67, and the Nasdaq composite rose 15.00 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,531.71. The Russell 2000 index of smallcap stocks added 2.49, or 0.2 percent, to 1,511.97. All four indexes are at records.

Airlines led the way after Delta Air Lines updated its forecast for third-quarter results. The Atlanta-based carrier expects to report roughly 2 percent growth in a key revenue measurement, which would be at the high end of the forecast range it had given a month earlier, after accounting for the hit that it took from Hurricane Irma.

Delta jumped $3.18, or 6.6 percent, to $51.25 for its best day since January 2015. United Continental, American Airlines Group and Southwest Airlines also each rose more than 4 percent.

Outside of airlines and a handful of other big movers, though, markets were generally quiet. No big economic reports were on the docket, and few companies reported quarterly results.

“This is the calm before we get hit with some more impactful information,” said Steve Chiavarone, portfolio manager at Federated Investors.

In upcoming weeks, the market will be looking to hear more about whether Washington will be able to cut tax rates for companies and others. Investors may also get clues about who the next chair of the Federal Reserve will be, and most companies will begin reporting their third-quarter results.

In the meantime, some economic reports may look abnormally weak because of the hurricanes that have recently struck the United States, such as this week’s upcoming report on hiring. But investors are expecting to see temporarily weaker numbers, which would limit the impact, Chiavarone said.

General Motors and Ford Motor were some of the market’s top performers after each reported strong U.S. sales growth for last month. It’s a turnaround for automakers, which had seen sales drop across the industry through the year’s first eight months.

GM climbed $1.30, or 3.1 percent, to $43.45, and Ford gained 25 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $12.34.