S&P 500 winning streak marks fifth day

Technology companies helped lead stocks broadly higher Tuesday on Wall Street as strong earnings reports from several companies put investors in a buying mood.

The rally extended the benchmark S&P 500 index’s winning streak to five days. Technology stocks accounted for much of the rally.

Banks lagged the most. Company earnings growth has mostly beat Wall Street’s estimates halfway through the fourth-quarter earnings season, but that growth is expected to slow in the months ahead.

Technology companies helped lead stocks broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday as strong earnings reports from several companies put investors in a buying mood.

The rally, which briefly wavered around midday, extended the benchmark S&P 500 index’s winning streak to five days.

Technology stocks, which have lagged the market in recent months, accounted for much of the rally. Financial sector companies were among the biggest laggards.

Investors welcomed the latest batch of solid earnings reports from a range of U.S. companies, including luxury retailers Ralph Lauren and Estee Lauder and media companies Viacom and Walt Disney.

Halfway through the fourth-quarter earnings reporting season for U.S. companies, the results have come in broadly ahead of analysts’ forecasts. However that growth is expected to slow in the months ahead.

“Big companies reported some really good results today,” said Lindsey Bell, an investment strategist at CFRA.

“While the overall earnings season isn’t all that impressive versus the past four quarters, it’s still a pretty decent quarter.”

The S&P 500 index rose 12.83 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,737.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 172.15 points, or 0.7 percent, to 25,411.52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 54.55 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,402.08. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 2.69 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,520.23.

Major indexes in Europe finished higher.

Technology stocks helped power the market’s gains. Apple added 1.7 percent to $174.18, while Microsoft climbed 1.4 percent to $107.22.

Investors continued to focus on corporate earnings, seeking clues to how companies gauge their prospects for higher profits amid signs of weaker global growth and uncertainty over the U.S.-China trade dispute.

More than 68 percent of companies reporting earnings in the S&P 500 beat analyst forecasts during the most recent quarter. Those results, in part, helped drive the market’s best January in 32 years.

U.S. crude oil fell 1.6 percent to settle at $53.66 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, slid 0.8 percent to close at $61.98 per barrel in London.