Strong gains in financial stocks help U.S. indexes hit records again

Stocks around the world continued their march higher on Monday, and U.S. indexes again hit new highs.

Strong gains for Citigroup and other financial stocks helped the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rise 12.15 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,328.25. It’s the third straight day the index has set a record. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 142.79, or 0.7 percent, to 20,412.16. The Nasdaq composite climbed 29.83, or 0.5 percent, to 5,763.96. Earlier in the day, markets rose across Europe and Asia.

Stocks have resumed their rally in recent days after stalling for a couple weeks. Stronger-than-expected profit reports from companies, continued improvement in the U.S. economy and expectations for business-friendly policies from Washington have helped propel the market. With no major economic reports or other big news on Monday, stocks continued to follow the path of least resistance, analysts say.

“The market’s got such good momentum now that it’s going to continue until something slows it down,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “There’s really not any negative catalyst right now.”

The S&P 500 has climbed five straight days and is up 8.8 percent since Donald Trump won the White House in November.

Companies whose profits are most dependent on the strength of the economy were some of Monday’s biggest gainers. Financial stocks in the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the index. Industrials rose 1 percent. Roughly three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

The biggest stock in the S&P 500, Apple, is also at a record closing high. It rose $1.17, or 0.9 percent, to close at $133.29. The iPhone maker’s performance carries extra weight for many 401(k) accounts because of its status as the biggest publicly traded company in the world. It alone accounts for about 3.5 percent of S&P 500 index fund investments.

Chemical company Chemours jumped $4.01, or 14.3 percent, to $32.14 after it announced an agreement with DuPont to jointly pay $670.7 million to settle roughly 3,500 personal-injury claims related to the release of perfluorooctanoic acid from a West Virginia plant. DuPont rose 99 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $77.82.

Zeltiq Aesthetics jumped $6.53, or 13.2 percent, to $55.93 after Allergan said it would buy the company, whose CoolSculpting system helps people reduce bulges of fat. Allergan, which sells Botox, agreed to pay $56.50 per share for Zeltiq.