Banks and tech push stocks higher for 4th day in a row

NEW YORK» U.S. stocks climbed for the fourth consecutive day Tuesday as strong earnings continued to pull the market closer to the all-time high it set in 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 said he might take the company private.

Gina Martin Adams, chief equity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, said companies are reporting huge profit and revenue growth. That’s nudged concerns about trade tension with China, Europe, Canada and Mexico out of investors’ minds.

“Very strong top line and bottom line growth from the vast majority of companies overwhelmed any fears that started to bubble up in June,” she said.

She added that the tariffs the U.S. and its trading partners have announced recently are still small and haven’t affected the broader market very much.

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 smallercompany stocks edged up 3.99 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,688.30.

The S&P 500 closed at an alltime 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.

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.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.98 percent from 2.95 percent.

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.