Dow Industrials Make Run at 22000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average logged its sixth straight session of gains Tuesday, climbing within striking distance of 22000.

The blue-chip index surged at the open and got within 10 points of the milestone around midday, before paring gains toward the close. The Dow industrials notched their fifth straight closing record while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended three-session losing streaks.

In a sign that U.S. stocks could be poised for further gains, index heavyweight Apple reported earnings that topped analyst expectations after the market closed. Shares rose 6% in after-hours trading.

U.S. stocks have hit fresh records this summer, buoyed by strong corporate earnings and signs of resurgent global growth. That should help major indexes continue to climb, investors say, even as many have doubts over the timing and scale of potential policy changes from the Trump administration, such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

"Equities are in an earnings-driven market, surprising to the upside," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The Dow industrials advanced 72.80 points, or 0.3%, to 21963.92. The S&P 500 rose 6.05 points, or 0.2%, to 2476.35, and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.82 points, or 0.2%, to 6362.94.

Bank shares lifted U.S. stock indexes, with the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index adding 0.8%. Shares of Goldman Sachs Group rose $1.67, or 0.7%, to $227.00 and J.P. Morgan Chase climbed $1.23, or 1.3%, to $93.03, boosting the Dow industrials.

Boeing, which has helped propel the Dow industrials this year, was one of the stocks standing in the way of the index reaching its latest thousand-point milestone Tuesday. Boeing shares fell $3.02, or 1.2%, to $239.44, shaving roughly 21 points off the index.

Although corporate earnings generally have been solid, soft U.S. economic data Tuesday weighed on some corners of the market.

Shares of car companies fell, with General Motors down $1.22, or 3.4%, to $34.76 and Ford Motor losing 27 cents, or 2.4%, to $10.95 after major U.S. auto makers said sales dropped sharply in July. The two stocks were among the S&P 500's worst performers.

Government bond prices climbed after data showed U.S. factory activity decelerated in July from the prior month, and the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the price index for personal-consumption expenditures, was flat in June from the prior month. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.253% from 2.292% Monday. Yields fall as prices rise.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx 600 Europe rose 0.6%, lifted by a raft of upbeat earnings reports. Data also showed that the eurozone's economic growth gathered steam in the second quarter.

Earlier, improvement in a closely watched private gauge of manufacturing in China fueled Asian shares. A reading from Caixan and IHS Markit rose for a second straight month in July and hit its highest level since March.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% after four consecutive sessions of gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index hit fresh two-year highs, rising 0.8%, while Korea's Kospi added 0.8%.

Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2017 18:02 ET (22:02 GMT)