Wall St. gains on 3M, Caterpillar earnings; Dow jumps

U.S. stock indexes rose on Tuesday, led by the Dow, as stronger-than-expected results and forecasts from companies including 3M, Caterpillar and General Motors fueled optimism about strength in the economy.

3M <MMM.N> and Caterpillar <CAT.N> gave the Dow its biggest boost. The index hit another intraday record high and was on track to post its biggest intraday percentage gain since Sept. 11.

3M jumped 7.2 percent and Caterpillar 4.7 percent after the two companies reported quarterly results and gave upbeat forecasts. The S&P industrial sector <.SPLRCI>, up 0.6 percent, also hit a record high.

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"It has been encouraging to see some of these industrial names report solid numbers and raise their guidance," said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

"Looking at some the earnings we got yesterday and the ones today, you're seeing strength domestically here in the U.S."

General Motors <GM.N> rose 2.9 percent. The No.1 U.S. automaker reported stronger-than-expected earnings, reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast and promised to slash stocks of unsold vehicles.

But the financial index <.SPSY>, up 0.9 percent, gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost, followed by technology <.SPLRCT>, up 0.5 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 200.03 points, or 0.86 percent, to 23,473.99, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 6.5 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,571.48 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 23.42 points, or 0.36 percent, to 6,610.25.

McDonald's <MCD.N>, another Dow component, also rose following results. The stock was last up 0.8 percent.

Strong earnings and optimism about President Donald Trump's tax plans helped the Dow and S&P close at a record high on all five trading days last week.

Offsetting some of the day's gains, Biogen <BIIB.O> slipped 3.4 percent after disappointing U.S. sales of a potential blockbuster drug, Spinraza.

Whirlpool <WHR.N> tumbled 10.8 percent after the home appliances maker reported profit and sales below estimates and lowered full-year earnings guidance.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.36-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.44-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

(Additional reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)