Market report

Banks take lead as stocks tick up

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 23, 2017, observe a moment of silence in the wake of the attack in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 23, 2017, observe a moment of silence in the wake of the attack in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose for the fourth day in a row Tuesday as they continued to recover the ground they lost last week. Major indexes approached record highs again.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,398.42. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 43.08 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,937.91. The Nasdaq composite rose 5.09 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,138.71. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks gained 3.84 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,380.98.

Most of the gains went to banks, which surged as bond yields jumped. That will allow them to charge higher rates on loans. Banks took steep losses last Wednesday, when stocks had their worst day since September. Scientific instrument companies' and drugmakers' stocks also rose. However, auto-parts companies were hammered after poor third-quarter results from AutoZone, and homebuilders fell after sales of new homes sank in April.

The four-day rally has restored most of the market's losses, and the S&P 500 is almost back to record highs.

"The market was simply reminded that there's political risk out there, and it reacted to that reminder," said Matthew Peterson, chief wealth strategist for LPL Financial. Peterson said he doesn't think long-term investors have made big changes to their portfolios in response to last week's drop.

Peterson said high stock prices and the calm market make stocks more vulnerable to surprises from the political arena.

Bond prices turned lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.28 percent from 2.25 percent. That helped bank stocks like JPMorgan Chase, which gained $1.06, or 1.3 percent, to $85.76 and BB&T, which rose 63 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $43.03.

Scientific instrument-maker Agilent Technologies raised its annual profit forecast after its second-quarter profit and sales beat Wall Street estimates. Its shares gained $2.58, or 4.6 percent, to $58.66. Industrial and medical device-maker Danaher picked up $1.04, or 1.3 percent, to $83.95.

Auto-parts retailer AutoZone took its worst one-day loss in 8½ years as high costs and lower sales at older locations hurt its results. Its stock fell $78.09, or 11.8 percent, to $581.40. O'Reilly Automotive sank $8.28, or 3.3 percent, to $240.18, and Advance Auto Parts gave up $6.71, or 4.6 percent, to $140.66. All have tumbled this year as investors worried about slowing car sales.

Nokia climbed after the company said it settled its legal disputes with Apple. The two companies said they will work together and that Nokia will get a cash payment from Apple. The Finnish company sold its mobile-phone business to Microsoft in 2014 and is now a network infrastructure provider. Its U.S. shares rose 33 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $6.54.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 34 cents to $51.47 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, picked up 28 cents to $54.15 a barrel in London.

Gold fell $5.90 to $1,255.50 an ounce. Silver lost 5 cents to $17.14 an ounce. Copper remained at $2.60 a pound.

Business on 05/24/2017

Upcoming Events