All three major U.S. stock indexes set record closing
highs on Monday, extending their post-election rally as energy and other
commodity-related shares gained and Facebook led a jump in technology.
Small
caps added to recent gains as well, pushing the Russell 2000 index to a record
high close. The session marked the first time all four indexes hit closing
records on the same day since Dec. 31, 1999.
Stocks have mostly
rallied since the Nov. 8 U.S. election, with investors snapping up shares of
banks, health care and other companies expected to benefit from President-elect
Donald Trump's policies.
The energy index .SPNY jumped 2.2 percent,
leading gains among major S&P sectors, as U.S. oil prices climbed 3.9 percent.
Hopes that OPEC would agree to an output cut next week lifted oil prices. The
S&P materials index .SPLRCM was up 1.3 percent.
"The post-election rally is
continuing," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth
Management in Birmingham, Alabama. Optimism that Trump will ease regulations
and reduce taxes "keeps pulling money into the market," he said.
"A lot of money came out of bond funds
last week into stocks, and I think that can continue given the potential spread
between what stocks can do versus bonds."
Data from TrimTabs Investment Research
showed investors moved $45.7 billion into U.S.-listed equity exchange-traded
funds in the eight trading days ended Thursday, the biggest eight-session
inflow on record.
The Dow Jones
industrial average .DJI ended up 88.76
points, or 0.47 percent, at 18,956.69, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 16.28
points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,198.18 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 47.35
points, or 0.89 percent, to 5,368.86.
The S&P 500 had last set a closing
record on Aug. 15. All three major indexes hit record intraday highs as well.
Expectations may be building that the new
administration will bring tax breaks that will help corporations and consumers,
said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville,
Virginia. But, he said, "you're betting an awful lot on something that
hasn't even been introduced before Congress yet."
After the close, the safe-haven yen JPY= rose and U.S.-dollar
denominated Nikkei futures NKc1 hit a session low after reports that a powerful
earthquake hit Japan.
"Unless we're missing something here
and there's some significant damage," markets should calm down, said
Stephen Massocca, chief investment officer of Wedbush Equity Management LLC in
San Francisco.
During the regular session, the technology
index .SPLRCT, which had underperformed other sectors following the election,
was up 1.1 percent. Facebook (FB.O) shot up 4.1 percent, giving the Nasdaq its biggest
boost, after the company announced a $6-billion share buyback program late
Friday.
Tech deals also boosted sentiment in the
sector and the broader market.
LifeLock (LOCK.N) surged 14.7 percent after Symantec (SYMC.O) said it would buy the identity theft protection
company for $2.3 billion. Symantec rose 3.2 percent. Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC.O) jumped 11.7 percent after Macom Tech (MTSI.O) said it would buy its fellow chipmaker for $770
million. Macom was off 4.1 percent.
Among the bigger decliners, Tyson Foods (TSN.N) shares fell 14.5 percent after the meat processor
forecast a lower-than-expected 2017 profit and said its CEO would step down.
About 6.7 billion shares changed hands on
U.S. exchanges, below the 8.1 billion daily average for the past 20 trading
days, according to Thomson Reuters data.
NYSE advancing issues outnumbered decliners
2.99-to-1; on Nasdaq, a 1.45-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs
and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 249 new highs and 24 new lows.
(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in
Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Nick Zieminski and Chris Reese)
