NEW YORK -- The stock market closed just short of a record on Monday as investors assessed some positive earnings reports.
Stocks also got a lift from the first gain in factory orders since last summer.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.20 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,114.49, within three points of its all-time high reached on April 24. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 46.34 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,070.40. The Nasdaq composite gained 11.54 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,016.93.
Cognizant Technology Solutions, a technology consulting business, was the biggest gainer in the Standard & Poor's 500 index after it reported earnings that beat the expectations of Wall Street analysts and raised its outlook for earnings and sales for the year. Tyson Foods, the maker of Jimmy Dean sausage products, was another company whose stock gained after posting strong earnings.
Corporate earnings for the first quarter have surpassed analysts' expectations, growing slightly rather than contracting, as had been forecast. That's driving demand for stocks, keeping alive a bull market now in its seventh year.
"Earnings haven't been as bad as people were expecting ... the picture isn't too bad," said Sean Lynch, co-director of Global Equity Strategy for Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
Factory orders rose in March for the first time since last July, breaking a long stretch of weakness in manufacturing. The increase of 2.1 percent followed seven monthly declines, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Also, orders in a key category that tracks business investment plans eked out a 0.1 percent rise. It was the first advance in the category since last August.
The most closely watched piece of economic news this week will come out on Friday, when the government releases its monthly jobs report. Investors follow the survey closely because they believe it will give them insight into when the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates.
Fed policy makers have held their benchmark interest rate close to zero since 2008. Most investors expect that they will refrain from raising rates until the second half of the year at the earliest, to allow the economy more time to strengthen.
Although the economy slowed in the first three months of the year, companies have still managed to continue to increase their earnings.
Average earnings-per-share for S&P 500 companies are forecast to rise by 1.7 percent in the first quarter, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. While the pace of growth has slowed from the final quarter of 2014, it is a much better performance than analysts were expecting at the start of April. At that time analysts were predicting a slump of 3.1 percent.
On Monday, Cognizant Technology Solutions beat Wall Street analysts' forecasts and raised its earnings and sales outlook for the year. The stock climbed $3.64, or 6.2 percent, to $62.78.
Tyson Foods rose 60 cents, or 1.48 percent, to $41.09 after its earnings were better than analysts predicted.
In bond trading, prices edged lower.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction to its price, climbed 2.14 percent from 2.12 percent on Friday.
Business on 05/05/2015