Nasdaq Tops 7,000 to Score New Record; S&P 500 Also Closes at Record High - TheStreet
Stocks rose on Tuesday, Jan. 2, the first trading day of 2018, as stocks in the consumer discretionary and energy sectors posted solid gains.
U.S. equities have risen for three of the past four trading sessions as companies count the benefits of U.S. tax cuts and take advantage of the dollar's worst run slump 2003.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both started off the new year with record closes. The S&P 500 rose by 0.83% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.5%. The Nasdaq closed above 7,000 for the first time.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.42% on Tuesday. General Electric Co. (GE) , Apple Inc. (AAPL) , Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) led the index higher.
Wall Street Isn't Euphoric ... YetThis 'Missing Link' in the Bull Market Is About to ReverseThe Dow rose more than 25% in 2017.
The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's strength against a basket of six global currencies, fell 0.4% to 91.90, trading near its September lows.
Europe's Stoxx 600 index, the broadest measure of regional shares, fell 0.21%.
Stocks in Asia rose broadly after a stronger-than-expected reading for manufacturing activity around the region, including China, where the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing PMI rose to a four-month high of 51.5.
BP PLC (BP) said Tuesday its fourth-quarter earnings will be hit by a one-off charge from recent changes in the U.S. tax code that will see the corporate rate fall to 21% from 35%, but added that future earnings will be positively impacted by the tax reforms.
The U.K. oil giant forecast said the roughly $1.5 billion charge will be taken in the fourth quarter of 2017. BP said details of final actual charge will be released on Feb. 6, when it issues its earnings report.
American depositary receipts of BP rose 0.58%.
Shares of Netflix Inc. (NFLX) rose 4.7% after Macquarie raised its rating on the streaming service to outperform from neutral.
Apple gained 1.8% after the tech giant announced over the weekend that its iPhone battery-replacement discount would go into effect immediately, rather than in late January.
On the last day of the calendar year, Disney's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" surpassed "Beauty and the Beast" as the top grossing film in North America in 2017. Disney shares jumped 3.1%.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) rose 3% after being upgraded to overweight by JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil turned slightly lower on Tuesday, falling 0.23% to $60.28 a barrel. WTI crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose 12.5% in 2017.
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