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Wall Street added to its recent streak on Tuesday as stock indexes hit new highs again and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 36,000 points for the first time.
The Dow Jones and the benchmark S&P 500 each rose 0.4%. The Nasdaq gained 0.3%. All three indices also hit all-time highs on Monday.
The gains were strong, with all but two of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 closing higher. Tech and healthcare stocks helped fuel much of the advance. Losses in energy stocks and a mix of companies that rely on direct consumer spending tempered market gains.
The S&P 500 Index extended its winning streak into a fourth day on Tuesday, rising 16.98 points to 4,630.65. The Dow Jones gained 138.79 points to 36,052.63, and the tech-rich Nasdaq added 53.69 points to 15,649.60.
Smaller company stocks also rebounded from an early pullback, pushing the Russell 2000 Index to its first all-time high since March. The Russell gained 3.74 points, or 0.2%, to 2,361.86.
Trading continued to be volatile, with major indices all sliding briefly into the red before recovering. The latest modest gains preceded other news this week from the Federal Reserve and the job market. Investors were also examining a hefty corporate earnings load for more clues as to how businesses are faring as the economy surpasses the virus pandemic.
Wall Street was pleasantly surprised that corporate earnings reports turned out to be stronger than expected, despite concerns about the impact on earnings of supply disruptions and rising inflation.
“They appear to be dealing with the supply chain issue, in terms of revenue and costs, so far,†said Liz Young, chief investment strategist at SoFi Technologies. “We all expected third quarter earnings to be dampened slightly by some of these pressures.”
Tech stocks made strong gains. Cloud networking firm Arista Networks jumped 20.4% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after giving investors an encouraging financial outlook following a strong third quarter report.
Health care inventories have also increased. Prescription drug distributor McKesson gained 5.2% after raising its profit forecast. Pfizer gained 4.1% after posting a strong earnings report.
Bond yields have fallen. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.54% from 1.57% on Monday night.
Crude oil prices fell 0.2% and weighed on energy stocks. Exxon Mobil fell 1.2%.
Wall Street has focused on a steady stream of corporate profits over the past few weeks. The results helped generate gains for major indices after a turbulent summer when covid-19 cases increased. This wave has since subsided, but rising inflation as the economy recovers remains a major concern.
Investors will focus on the latest comments from the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting today, when the central bank is expected to disclose plans to ease the extraordinary support measures put in place at the start of the pandemic to support markets and l ‘economy.
President Jerome Powell has announced that the Fed will announce after its policy meeting that it will start cutting its $ 120 billion in monthly bond purchases as early as this month. These purchases aim to keep long-term loan rates low to encourage borrowing and spending.
The recovery of the labor market has been at the center of the central bank’s concerns. The job market has improved, but more importantly it has lagged behind the rest of the economic recovery as people are reluctant to return to work despite an abundance of vacancies. Investors will receive another update on Friday when the Labor Department releases its jobs report for October.
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