NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The Dow and S&P 500 ended at fresh records Monday as a strong second-quarter earnings season continued to attract more funds to the United States equity market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its ninth straight record, finishing at 22,118.42, a 0.1 percent increase over Friday’s close.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to end at 2,480.91 also a new all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5 percent to 6,383.77.
Dow members winning at least one percent included Apple, Boeing, Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart Stores.
Investors are upbeat after Friday’s better-than-expected US jobs report for July and a generally strong earnings period reinforced confidence in the robustness of the US economy.
“The dog days of August are upon us, but Q2 earnings are giving investors something to howl about,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
And there are still a handful of major earnings are on this week’s calendar, including Disney and other media companies.
Tyson Foods jumped 5.7 percent after reporting that third-quarter sales rose 4.8 percent amid strong meat demand.
Alibaba rose 3.6 percent and Marriott International was up 1.1 percent after the companies announced a joint venture that will link the Chinese online marketplace’s 500 million monthly users into the global hotel network.
Rockwell Collins, which makes communications and avionics systems, jumped 6.8 percent on reports United Technologies is considering a bid to buy the company. Dow member United Technologies lost 2.4 percent.
© Agence France-Presse