The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)

Soaring airline stocks help lift Wall Street

Trading was again quiet overall, with only modest moves for bond yields, commoditie­s and other markets.

- By Stan Choe

NEW YORK » 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 small-cap 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.

Homebuilde­r Lennar rose after it reported stronger quarterly sales and earnings than analysts expected. Interest rates remain relatively low, and the strengthen­ing job market is helping to convince more people to buy homes. Lennar rose $2.53, or 4.8 percent, to $55.35.

Shares of Equifax and Wells Fargo both rose, even though representa­tives for the companies received tongue lashings on Capitol Hill.

 ?? MARK LENNIHAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? This file photo, shows a Wall Street street sign outside the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stock indexes ticked higher in early trading on Tuesday and tacked on a bit more to their records set a day earlier.
MARK LENNIHAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE This file photo, shows a Wall Street street sign outside the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stock indexes ticked higher in early trading on Tuesday and tacked on a bit more to their records set a day earlier.

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