Stocks up, again: Dow hits all-time high, oil jumps

Stocks ended higher Tuesday as energy stocks jumped on a sharp rise in oil prices and as big technology stocks, which have been mostly left out of a post-election rally, turned sharply higher.

The Dow set another closing high, building on its record close of Monday, notching seven straight days of gains.

The big gainer was the Nasdaq composite, up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and the Dow Jones industrial average finished 0.3% higher.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.95, or 4.5%, to $45.27 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bond yields pulled back slightly after a week of sharp increases. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.23% from 2.26% Monday.

The focus in markets in the past few sessions has been on the upcoming Donald Trump presidency, which will begin on Jan. 20. Analysts say his promises of tax cuts and higher infrastructure spending could boost economic growth but also spur inflation. That’s seen a rally in stocks, a sell-off of U.S. bond yields and a concurrent rise in the dollar.

But investors are slowly turning their focus away from what President-elect Donald Trump will do in office to more fundamental drivers, such as the economy, interest rates and the Federal Reserve.

Encouraging economic news helped boost sentiment as retail sales jumped a better-than-expected 0.8% in October, as consumers spent more money on cars and home and garden supplies, among other types of products.

Retail sales surged in October

Retail sales over last two months have been the strongest in more than two years, which shows consumers are still spending and the economy might grow more quickly in the fourth quarter than economists expect.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett bought stock in United Continental and American Airlines. The investor has avoided the volatile industry in the past, but disclosed stakes in each company in a form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. United picked up 1.9% and American gained 2.1%.

Airline stocks take off after Warren Buffett invests

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.6% while Germany’s DAX gained 0.4%. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6% higher.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3% and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was almost unchanged at 17,668.15. India’s Sensex fell 1.4 % and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 retreated 0.3%. Seoul’s Kospi shed 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.3%.

Monday, the Dow gained 21.03 points, or 0.1%, to close at 18,868.69, another all-time high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 0.25 points to 2,164.20 after it fell as much as 0.4 percent earlier. The Nasdaq composite sank 18.72 points, or 0.4%, to 5,218.40.