S&P 500 closes above 2000 for the first time
Wall Street's record-setting rally continued Tuesday as the S&P 500 notched its 30th record of the year and closed above 2000 for the first time. The Dow also rose but fell short of its record closing high after setting an all-time intraday high earlier in the session.
Investors were encouraged Tuesday by the latest corporate mergers and a jump in consumer confidence and durable goods orders.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.10 points, or 0.1%, to close at a record 2000.02 after rising as high as 2005.04. The benchmark index first broke the 2000 barrier on Monday.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 29.83, or 0.2% to 17,106.70 after earlier hitting an intraday record high of 17,153.80. The Dow's closing record high of 17,138.20 was set July 16.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 13.29, or 0.3%, to 4570.64.
The major indexes have rallied three straight weeks as investors bet on signs of an improving U.S. economy and react to better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index have posted profit growth of 8.4% in the second quarter.
In corporate news:
• Shares of Canada's Tim Hortons (THI) jumped 8.5% to $81.05 after Burger King (BKW) said it will buy the company for about $11 billion and move its headquarters to Canada. Burger King fell 4.3% to $31.00 after rising 19% on Monday when news of the tax inversion deal was first reported.
• Amazon's stock rose 2.3% to $341.83 after announcing late Monday that it was buying video streaming company Twitch for $970 million.
• Shares of Best Buy tumbled 6.9% to $29.80 after the electronics retailer released earnings and missed Wall Street's revenue forecast.
In economic news, consumer confidence rose for the fourth-straight month as the Conference Board's closely watched index jumped to a seven-year high in August.
Orders for durable goods soared 22.6% in July on strong demand for commercial aircraft. But the orders excluding transportation fell 0.5%, the Commerce Department reported.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.39% from 2.38% late Monday. Oil prices rose, and U.S. crude for October delivery was up 51 cents to $93.86 a barrel.
Overseas, Asian markets lost ground, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 92.03 points, or 0.6%, to 15,521.22, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index losing 92.41 points, or 0.4%, to 25,074.50 and the Shanghai Composite dropping 22.17 points, or 1%, to 2,207.11.
European benchmarks were higher with Britain's FTSE up 0.7% to 6822.76, Germany's DAX rising 0.8% to 9588.15, and France's CAC-40 up 1.2% to 4393.41.
Monday, the S&P 500 hit new records as the index rose 9.52 points, or 0.5%, to close at 1,997.92, after earlier hitting an all-time intraday high of 2,001.95. The Dow gained 75.65 points, or 0.4%, to 17,076.87. The Nasdaq composite index gained 18.80, or 0.4% to 4,557.35.