Stocks tick up, bringing S&P 500 and Dow to new highs
Technology companies led U.S. stocks modestly higher Monday, driving the market to another set of milestones.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average finished at new highs. Both indexes also set record highs Friday.
Solid gains by healthcare companies also helped lift the market, outweighing losses among banks and industrial stocks. Energy stocks rose along with the price of crude oil.
Investors had their eye on bitcoin futures, which made their market debut. But traders were mostly looking ahead to the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers.
“The market is kind of in a holding pattern, just sort of waiting for the Fed meeting,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.
The S&P 500 index rose 8.49 points, or 0.3%, to 2,659.99. The index has had three up weeks in a row. The Dow rose 56.87 points, or 0.2%, to 24,386.03. The Nasdaq composite advanced 35 points, or 0.5%, to 6,875.08. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slipped 1.88 points, or 0.1%, to 1,519.84.
The Fed is scheduled to issue an interest rate policy update Wednesday. Economists expect the central bank to lift short-term rates by 0.25 of a point. That would be the third interest rate hike by the central bank this year.
Although inflation has remained low, the central bank has seen a path to gradually raise rates as the economy and labor market have strengthened.
Technology companies accounted for much of the market’s gains Monday.
Symantec rose 4.4% to $29.22. Apple went up 1.9% to $172.67 after the website Apple Insider said the company is delivering new iPhones to customers at a faster pace.
In the healthcare sector, Allergan climbed 3% to $172.76.
Bluebird Bio surged 17.9% to $201.80 after the drugmaker reported results from an early study of a cancer treatment it is developing with Celgene. Celgene rose 1.8% to $108.
Spark Therapeutics plunged 35% to $47.72 and competitor BioMarin Pharmaceutical climbed 7.5% to $88.11 after both reported data on experimental treatments for hemophilia A.
As bitcoin futures jumped on their first day of trading on a major U.S. exchange, online retailer Overstock.com — which accepts the virtual currency — surged 22% to $55.
Shares in banks and other financial companies declined. Zions Bancorporation fell 1.9% to $49.94.
Several industrial companies also posted losses, including Verisk Analytics, which fell 1.9% to $94.32.
Oil and gas prices rose, boosting energy sector stocks. Chesapeake Energy climbed 4.1% to $3.83.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 63 cents, or 1.1%, to $57.99 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.29, or 2%, to close at $64.69 a barrel.
In other energy futures trading, wholesale gasoline picked up 1 cent to $1.73 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.95 a gallon. Natural gas rose 6 cents, or 2%, to $2.83 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold slipped $1.50 to settle at $1,246.90 an ounce. Silver fell 4 cents to $15.79 an ounce. Copper rose 3 cents to $3.01 a pound.
Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note stayed at 2.38%.
The dollar edged up to 113.52 yen from 113.51 yen. The euro rose to $1.1786 from $1.1768.
